


Ad Infinitum

by TratserEnoyreve



Series: Ad Infinitum [1]
Category: Nier, Nier automata - Fandom
Genre: A Lot of Death, Androids, Dragons, Multi, Robots, Worldbuilding, some psychological horror eventually, speculative sequel, you want sad robots i got sad robots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-29
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2019-07-04 06:56:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15836094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TratserEnoyreve/pseuds/TratserEnoyreve
Summary: [NIER AUTOMATA SPOILERS WITHIN]After the destruction of the main machine Network, machine forces around the globe experienced a massive die-off, enabling android Resistance camps to reclaim territory that once was overrun by the machine menace despite the heartbreaking loss of an entire generation of YorHa soldier forces. Thankfully, enough engineers and developers remained ground-side to utilize the remaining information gathered by the forces to manufacture and establish the planned next generation of soldiers. They were to be the greatest military ever organized, by man or android, and tasked with being the penultimate killing blow to what remained of the alien machine lifeforms. The dreamed day was coming, the goal of millennia of a never ending war of attrition, that finally the machine menace would be exterminated and mankind would be free to return to their home.The Gehenna bunker was instated above the meridian, between the sunbaked earth and the frigid kingdom of night, to clear the Goldilocks Belt, the primary location for future human habitation.





	1. In Multitudes

**Author's Note:**

> // while i own a copy of nier automata i don’t actually own nier automata  
> // that’d be rad as heck tho  
> // but since i don’t know that this work of fiction is made for no profit and seeks only to further explore and celebrate and elaborate on the setting given to us in this game that made me openly bawl on my living room floor  
> // also i’ve never published a written fanfic before so enjoy the first dish i’ve ever served up

F1rst Sequence: Adulation

The air was full of sunlight and salt. The ship’s stern sliced through the waves sending splashes of sea spray high enough to fleck the faces of passengers who stood closely to the railings. A dozen androids, dressed in a clashing blend of casual attire and formal combat outfits, were grouped together having what seemed to be a lighthearted conversation.

At the heart of the group, a shorter, black-haired and blindfolded, boyish android spoke. “So, there I was, waiting for a confirmation call, when this Resistance guy walks up to me. He’s got with him this tuskless boar, shaved, has a saddle and some rope strapped onto it. Weird, but not the weirdest thing I’ve seen.

He asks me if I have a minute, I tell him yeah sure whatever, y’know, maybe get some bonus credits for running Resistance errands.”

Listeners nod in understanding, they’ve been there before, some roll their eyes.

“This guy asks me if I can find and give him a copy of some information about old-world riding animals. I figure he’s a part of the re-domestication movement, right? So, I send in the request for the archive. After like two minutes of sorting out red tape and everything, I give this guy the public archives he requested. He skims it over. And then he just kinda gives me this look, so I ask him, ‘Why the long face?’ And then this guy, he says, you won’t believe it, he says-” said the scanner unit, sporting a hearty smile as he was met with a chorus of entertained “what?”.

“‘This isn’t a horse! I’ve been robbed!’” Much of the group bursts into laughter, even those with covered faces are tickled by the story, and those who aren’t shake their heads bemused.

One of the members pipes up, inbetween the laughs, with, “Alright, alright, can we really blame him though?” The giggling continues, “A few hundred years old and he at least remembered horses had four legs.” More laughter.

A metal door swung open from the cabin, several figures exiting from inside. One split away from the others, a silver floating pod beside him and a larger dark one held in his hands. As he approached, all but one android of the laughing group edged out of his way.

“i-15,” he smiled warmly, brown hair fluttering in the sea breeze, “you’ll be heading out soon. I already got TAKé set up for you. Here.” He presented the pod he was holding, a deep black box with a horizontal stripe of beige that went across it, to the light blonde-haired android.

i-15 accepted it and pulled at a mechanism at its base, causing the pod to come to life, arms extending from its main casing and signal light flashing. The awakened pod then levitated to a position just above i-15’s right shoulder, saying in a digital tone, “Good Afternoon i-15, it is currently three pm local time, all systems are green.”

“Hi again to you too!” She smiled, both at the pod and the android who’d handed it to her. “So, c-15, are you staying here or is c-87?”

c-15 shrugged and shook his head, “I gotta stay here this time. Sorry. It’s faster for you to relay to me than it is for him to patch through s-74.”

“Understood.” There was a flicker of a frown, quickly replaced by a more positive expression. “I’ll keep my comm line open.”

“Me too.”

* * *

i-15, s-74, c-87, and a cumulative collection of a dozen YorHa units were packed into a small motorboat that was set en-route to an island that lay ahead, beyond a wall of shallow rock formations that would breach the hull of their larger military vessel but could be skirted around and over by the much more agile boat.

The choppy waters had the boat nearly skipping across the surface, like a tossed stone. Braced on the railing and looking steadily ahead, i-15 was beginning to train her focus on their target and had an open intercommunication channel with the scanner units joining her. The shoreline was fast approaching and she could hear the mechanical hum of c-87’s cloaking mechanism, meant to shield them from being detected just yet by machine lifeforms.

The unit steering the ship, an M model, would remain with it for the duration of the mission, her responsibility being to direct them safely onto and from the island. Two battler units would also remain to defend the vessel, leaving the others to split into three groups of three.

Once beached, the units organized into their designated parties, i-15 with s-units 113 and 91, and split off.

The island they were on was formed by volcanic activity some time ago, an example of many half-formed archipelagos that rose as a result of the onslaught of war upon the earth. As such, the visible surface area was a small portion of an entire mountain chain that had pushed through the ocean.

Tumultuous internal volcanic activity was just one of several obstacles in their path of fully mapping the isle. Harsh sulphuric gases were not of immediate concern on the surface and, according to past reconnaissance missions, local machine lifeforms had developed a network of vents and piping to aerate the interior of their facility, but was still a present danger.

Earthquakes, oceanic storms, tidal waves, a host of natural dangers that still paled in comparison to the true threat of the place.

i-15 kept pace just behind s-113 and s-91. They were heading to the north-eastern side of the island to explore a chunk of the machine factory that had been blasted open from unknown causes. Their booted feet crunched drying seashells and gravel as they walked.

The beach of the island made a complete circle around it, layers of fresh rock and ocean-swept sediment coating it and creating enough anchor for some native species to begin to flourish. Sand crabs filtered through the sea spray idly as the androids kept their march.

“TAKé, please update on cloaking status.”

“Certainly, i-15. Localized jamming signal appears to be holding and will remain in effect for the next four minutes thirty-six seconds.”

s-113, another boyish android with mixed black and white hair, summoned a display screen, “At our current speed, we will be reaching our mission area in around eight minutes. I suggest we pick up the pace and get in while they don’t know we’re here.”

“Agreed.” s-91 chimed in, almost identical in appearance to 113 were it not for his differently styled curly hair.

“Agreed as well. s-113, send a prompt to the other teams to also be prepared to enter around the same time before we lose our cloaking, we’ll have more time if the enemy is split to deal with multiple simultaneous breaches.”

“On it.”

All three changed gear from a steady march to a run. To their right was an ocean that extended well beyond the visual horizon, to the left a small mountain, punctured by towering cylinders of concrete tubes. The androids’ visual displays kept them updated on the proximity of their mark, the approximate location of the other squads, and the communication channel shared by the scanner units.

[s-74] • squad alto at entry point

[s-74] • confirm when ready

[s-65] • squad clef is standing by as well

i-15 spotted their target and alerted her teammates, all switching to a lower gear in sync as they took cover behind a stack of rubble. The concrete tower ahead of them, rising straight up and out of the mountain like the others, had a large hole blasted into the side of it, level with the beach. Heaps of concrete and torn reinforcement grating lay scattered around it.

Already the scanners were noting observations and theorizing probable causes. The speckle-haired android began typing into the shared channel.

[s-113] • squad bass has reached our destination

[s-113] • permission to drop the beat down into this here nastiness

[s-74] • ...

[s-65] • this isn’t a dj gig gtfo

[s-74] • c-87’s response is

[s-113] • you’re relaying this to him?!

[s-74] • yes and he says

[s-74] • (⌐■_■)b

[i-15] • lmao

[s-74] • also we have limited cloaking remaining

[i-15] • enough to enter with 20 seconds of free movement before the enemy is alerted to our presence

[i-15] • prepare for entry on my mark

[i-15] • 3

[i-15] • 2

[i-15] • 1

[i-15] • mark

 

The trio dashed forward and set to work. Their communication channel quickly became inundated with updates and ongoing findings, all communally adding to or editing eachother’s statements as they went on. Squad alto had entered through the main entry of the factory and noted that machines had repaired damages done to the structure that’d been reported before. Squad clef were navigating the known secondary entrance which led to what was documented as one of the facility’s dumping areas, only much of the refuse appeared to have been cleared out.

Squad bass were thoroughly scanning the debris field to understand what had happened to the tower. All external towers had thus far been related to the facility’s airduct and gas-flow systems interlinked with the interior rooms and continuing for at least a mile downwards. No machine lifeforms had been seen entering or exiting from these towers, instead only ever using established doors. It was already apparent, from the spread of the rubble, that the blast must have come from within the tower itself.

“TAKé, please relay to c-15 that I have begun investigation of the marked location and have a query.”

“Certainly.” The pod paused its sweeping scan of the local area and then resumed, “c-15 has confirmed your location and awaits your query.”

“Have any prior YorHa missions taken place within this tower? If yes, were there any documented damages or materials left behind.” i-15 spoke as she examined a section of wall.

A pause, and then, “c-15 states there has been no official YorHa presence within this particular tower, as before now there was no path within found to lead to it. All materials from past engagements have been fully accounted for and retrieved.”

“Alright. Thank you. Tell c-15 I will continue to leave this channel open.”

“Message sent.”

The interior of the broken concrete tower was more raw concrete, a flat ashy gray color. Command was interested in what method and recipe the machines had used to construct these buildings, as it was far more resilient to the elements than what Resistance camps currently had at their disposal. Even with salt water puddles inside of the burst tower, likely from the tide now able to reach into it, i-15 did not see any sign of weathering or other degradation that would explain how the hole happened.

s-91 was staring upwards, calculating the reach of the tower. The machines here had established lethal protections towards the top of the mountain, and attempts to enter into the piping from above had been fruitless.

s-113 made a tsk-ing sound. From the circular room extended a narrow hallway into another chamber. “Looks like this connects to the neighboring pipe at ground level.”

“That matches the satellite imagery we have.” s-91 pulled up a display, revealing a translucent basic layout of the room they were in and ones nearby. While many were joined with obvious paths, scans were only able to reveal the topmost sections of the facility, everything below sea level was still a mystery.

“I haven’t detected any signs of nearby hostiles, proceeding into the next chamber.” i-15 strode into the hall.

“Affirmative.” s-113 and 91 followed suit.

The next room was another circular chamber, the very center being a concrete column that extended upward into the ceiling.

i-15 pressed a palm to the column, it was warm to the touch. “Possibly an outgoing vent of sulphuric gases.”

“There’s another hall leading to what looks to be a semi-circle chamber with a path that leads down.” s-91 was referencing his maps. “Several more pipelines are to the right of us, disconnected from the main room.”

“Understood. Proceeding.” i-15 moved forward.

“Affirmative.”

A red notice flickered up on their displays.

 

[s-65] • squad clef has made contact with enemy hostiles

[s-74] • type?

[s-65] • typical biped models with standard weaponry

[s-65] • s-120 106 and myself are going to pursue their point of entry

[s-65] • uncertain of level of enemy detection

[s-113] • squad bass has had zero contact so far

[s-74] • same but exercise caution

[s-74] • c-87 says that squad bass will likely become a focal target

[s-74] • should the enemy become aware of their intentions

[i-15] • understood

 

Stepping lightly, the trio continued onward, i-15’s pod’s light flashing as it listened for any change in the environment. The next room was just as reported, a semi-circle chamber with another path leading from it, a descending staircase.

“Doesn’t the main access of the facility have lighting?” s-91 squinted in the dark, retinas adjusting to low-light.

“Yes.” i-15 activated her pod’s flashlight.

“Noted.”

“Squad clef is being held up with enemy fire. Nothing unsustainable. Alto is already down a floor. Should we start going down?” s-113 peered into the dark.

s-91 flicked away one of his display screens. “Satellite maps are useless beyond the first basement level, there are a few larger rectangular rooms after the stairs but after that we’re on our own.”

“Proceeding.” i-15 directed the pod to hover just ahead and armed herself with the smaller two of her four black swords.

In a line, the three androids went deeper into the earth. It grew warmer as they descended, twenty feet. fifty feet. a hundred feet. After going down one hundred and twelve feet, they made it to the largest of the mapped rectangular chambers.

“No wonder scans aren’t picking up that much.” s-113 huffed.

“There should be a door to the left of us and one to the right. Straight across this room should be another little one.” s-91 continued, “should we attempt to descend as quickly as possible or check the side rooms?”

“If we don’t check out these rooms now, we’ll just be sent here again later.” said s-113.

“Fair point. Checking them out now.” replied s-91.

Both doors had basic locks on them, easily overridden by the scanner units, who braced for whatever it was that needed to be locked behind them. To their disappointment and confusion, there was nothing.

“More empty rooms?” s-113 was visibly annoyed, “Why even put a lock here?”

i-15 ran her hands along the interior wall of one of the chambers. It was warm from ambient heat and her fingers caught on tiny divots in the wall. “There used to be something kept in here. Whatever it was, its been stripped out, and they started filling the drill holes, this concrete is newer than the flooring.”

s-91 felt along the edges where the floor met the wall, finding a frayed uneven edge. “You’re right. Still, why lock it?”

The pod chimed in, “Suggestion, the current environment is not suited for extended theorization, units i-15 s-91 and s-113 should ‘shelve’ this topic until a better environment is achieved.”

“Thanks, TAKé, we’ll proceed with the mission.” i-15 and the scanners left the rooms as they were.

The larger room was much the same, bare. Empty. Unlit. While their fellow squads were still in range to be detected on their radars, no enemy signal or other mobile energy source was being picked up close to them.

 

[s-74] • squad alto reporting more signs of recent restoration and thorough cleaning of the machines

[s-74] • even residual fuel traces from prior combat appears to have been cleaned

[s-65] • squad clef reporting the confirmed shutdown of nearby hostile machines

[s-65] • likewise finding evidence of recent repair work

[s-113] • squad bass reporting a whole lot of nothing

[s-113] • whether that means anything we don’t know yet

 

The trio approached the smaller room at the far end of the chamber, seeing that a pair of doors were, “An elevator.” s-91 double-checked the button panel to be sure. “A basic one-stop one at that. Can only be recalled or sent, no floor selection.”

“Proceeding.” i-15 stepped towards the button only to be halted.

Her teammate, s-91, held her arm hesitantly. Seeing her stop, he swiftly let go, saying, “We have no intel on what’s down there, or how far this elevator goes. There’s a high chance that the enemy will be expecting us. And we’ll be in a box.”

“That’s acceptable. Our directive is to attain as much information regarding machine activity in this location as possible. Everyone aboard the ship is expecting me to provide quality relays of our findings, which I cannot do if you’re all out of range.” She then smiled, “If things get hairy I’ll cover for you both.”

s-91 appeared to be mulling it over before joining s-113 in giving a more confident nod and salute. i-15 returned the gesture, her left hand staying level with her forearm and pressed above her core. They called the elevator and entered, the pod’s light filling the small metal room.

It was a smooth ride, the sense of falling much softer than they could have expected. They relied on the pod to provide updates on their depth level. One hundred and fifty feet from surface. One hundred ninety. Two hundred and forty. At the three hundred mark, the androids bodies’ were beginning to activate their pressure releases, hissing noises filling the elevator. Three hundred and fifty feet from the surface. Four hundred. Seven.

“TAKé, please confirm that communication channel with c-15 is still accessible.”

“Certainly, i-15. Test signal transfer confirmed, with a delay of 7.8 milliseconds.”

“Please continue to test channel stability every fifty feet.”

“Certainly.”

Seven hundred and fifty feet and the delay was 8.1 milliseconds. Eight hundred and it was 10.2 milliseconds. Two seconds. Five. Seventeen. The delays grew so great and the elevator moved at such a constant pace that the pod was no longer able to update every fifty feet.

The pressure caused a distortion of sound, with their bodies doing their best to adjust to the quick altitude change below sea-level. s-91 was trying to scan their surroundings, searching for rooms around them and the one they had to be approaching. They passed by so quickly he was able only to record vague masses and empty pockets he couldn’t differentiate as rooms or natural gas formations.

s-113’s expression had morphed from confused boredom to growing anger, eyes narrowing in suspicion at the elevator doors in front of him.

[s-113] • squad bass updating from tiny metal elevator

[s-113] • still descending after a solid five minutes.

[s-113] • uncertain of local intercommunication stability

[s-65] • we’re receiving your updates with a delay of one minute.

[s-74] • squad clef is receiving your updates with a delay of 45 seconds

[s-74] • we have gone down approximately 450 feet

[s-91] • currently past 5000 feet

[s-65] • good luck

 

i-15 sat in a squat, hands resting on her knees while she closed her eyes in focus. s-91 sat cross-legged on the floor, looking between his squad mates and what he could detect of the passing floors. s-113 stood, fists clenched, glaring at the door.

Asides from the mechanical hum of the elevator and pod, it was silent.

Then, i-15 shot upright, “We’re approaching something. There’s a strong energy source coming from below.”

“Hostiles?!” s-113 drew his short-sword and took a defensive stance. s-91 scrambled onto his feet, looking down to try and sense it himself.

“Don’t know, alert the other squads.”

“Can’t, signal is too weak.”

“Attempt to anyway.”

“Alright.”

They stood, alert and together, for whatever was going to be behind the elevator doors. The elevator slowed. Then stopped. Then opened.

The pod’s flashlight was rendered unnecessary, the path ahead of them well lit by a mix of LEDs embedded in the ground and the low-light of what looked to be gigantic basins of molten rock. The heat was stifling and the androids’ internal fans sped up to try and alleviate it.

“What is this?” s-113’s brow furrowed.

i-15 stepped out of the elevator and took in their surroundings. “This must be a part of the actual factory. Likely using geothermal power for the whole thing.” She then gestured ahead, “C’mon, we have to map this as quickly as we can.”

They sprinted down the railed pathway, scanning and recording as they went. Large pipes carrying seawater, pipes transferring fuel, insulated wiring, criss-crossing across the ceiling and delving into the walls of the unexpectedly large room. Stone columns, ten or more feet wide, supported the roof. A maze of branching lit paths and halls extended outward, and i-15 continued toward the large energy signal she’d detected.

And yet no active machines in sight.

“Any response from the other squads?”

“None, they can’t hear us in here.”

“I’m still successfully sending copies of all data collected thus far to c-15, we can keep going.”

“Affirmative.”

They entered another roiling hot chamber. s-91 was beginning to take manual breaths to try and keep his core from overheating. “This looks like a metal smeltery.” He referred to large stone structures with channels leading off of them, open ports flickering with flame. They examined the area further.

“Not a lot of metal at all for a machine factory.” s-113 looked down into a basin, massive like others, but had meters of empty space between the lip and its contents. “Eugh, it’s been alloyed to shit.”

i-15 ventured dangerously close, standing precipitously at the very edge of a basin and pushing the limit of her reach while gripping one of her solid black blades. She dipped the tip of the blade into the pool and looked it over, her pod analyzing its components. Upon seeing the readout, she nodded. “No wonder there’s been limited contact. This is barely usable, any machine casing made of this quality material will be cracking apart in no time.” She rose and flicked the molten metal off her blade.

s-91 shook his head “But, this doesn’t explain the damaged tower.”

“Proceeding.” i-15 said.

“Affirmative.” s-113 and s-91 rushed onward after.

Large conveyor belts sat unmoving, pistons stopped in mid-motion, molds for machine components sat waiting to be filled. “The whole facility is on standby. Are they just out on break?” s-113 laughed.

s-91 responded by rolling his eyes and continued to observe and scan the facility. “We’re really close to the energy source i-15 detected. Keep braced.”

They moved onward until all that stood between them and the target was a single narrow hall. i-15 led, the trio edging forward cautiously, sensors on high alert. They’d already been down here for hours and still felt the unease of having only just scraped the surface, of being hours away from the surface.

Ahead of them, radiating intense heat, was a mass of pipes that surrounded... something. So heavily obfuscated that they could not discern the form at the heart of it. But it was undeniably the source of the energy spike.

“Some kind of heat sink?” s-91 queried, faltering behind.

s-113 looked around. “Or grave.” He kicked at a fallen machine head, the sphere cracking far too easily at his half-hearted attempt, revealing the awful sculpted interior too often seen in machines.

Machines had teeth. Beneath their full plating, perhaps a remnant from their alien progenitors, machine lifeforms were given a sculpted alien skull, complete with metallic teeth and eye-less sockets. No actual practical use for the teeth was known, nor really possible thanks to its casing. But they had them nonetheless.

“Guess we can let command know this nest is pretty dead.” s-113 rolled more machine heads around, which pitifully clattered against eachother with dull metallic thuds.

s-91 snapped his fingers. “Got it!” he began typing ecstatically on his display, “The machines were attempting to bore for more metal deposits but haven’t been finding any, this area is too volatile and has no old mineral deposits that could be used. So, they turned to trying to use molten rock as a building material to spare what metal they had for what was needed most. As the deficit increased, they stripped less-necessary areas of the facility of all the metal they could, including support beams and rivets.

Then they recycled their own destroyed units for metals and parts. And again. And again until it was no longer sustainable at all. Perhaps its entered a kind of stasis until there is enough resources available to get it going again?”

As s-91 spoke, i-15 continued to step towards the heap of pipes. She clambered up the side of it, boots sticking to the hot metal and leaving prints of molten rubber. She was searching for a conclusive visual on what was beneath the pile, what was exuding the energy signal. A reactor? Some type of relay device? She climbed, ignoring the blistering heat that cut at her hands, the insatiable need to know compelled her to confirm just what was in there.

She found a gap between two water pipes as wide as she was tall and peered within. It was dark, pitch black, but she felt that something was in there. She reached in, stretching as far as she could, until her hand made contact with a large glass sphere.

She stared into it, trying to process what it was, when it lit up a violent bright red and stared back.

Everything then happened at once. All three androids felt a flood of data bombard their systems, s-113 barely having the time to yell “VIRUS” before they were desperately fending off the attack. s-91 was the first to spot a reactivated machine lurching up from the floor, and was also its first-most target as it clamped onto him and started to drag him by the leg. i-15 shook off the attempted viral strike and rushed to get away from the heap, directing her pod to fire onto the machine attempting to steal s-91. s-113 became all too aware of the piles of machine heads glowing alight and beginning to levitate. He pulled up s-91 as soon as he was freed and began to run for the exit, i-15 close behind as more machines pursued them.

The factory roared to life, pistons and conveyors and assembly lines, with crackled machine lifeforms joining the suddenly very active fray. i-15 sliced and shot at all in their direct path back to the elevator, s-113 and 91 lending support by hacking apart hostiles or rendering their systems useless.

Minutes felt like hours as they ran and ran and ran, finally finding their means of escape and piling into the elevator. i-15 kicked the attacking machines out and away while the scanners pulled the doors shut, only ceasing their hectic yelling once they’d felt themselves being lifted upward for a good minute, the bangs and thrashings of the crumbling machines fading away.

s-113 slumped into the back wall of the lift. “What the shit was that?”

s-91 took shaky breaths, visibly overheated from both exertion and extended time in such a place. “More than just the facility was in stasis, huff, the machines were too.” He gripped at his leg and then gasped, raising a stained gloved hand. “I didn’t even realize...”

i-15 ripped up his pant leg, lowering her pod to sort out the damage. “The grip force was enough to cause a tear in the fibers and synthetic tissue. TAKé, please apply staunching gel here and here while I prepare to clamp.”

“Certainly.” The pod dispensed a thick bluish gel from one of its hands and applied it to the wound. i-15 then procured some small thin metal staples from a pocket, bending them to pinch the fake tissues together as the gel stopped the bleeding.

“TAKé, please inform c-15 of recent events.”

“Certainly.” a pause, and then, “Missed 12 repeated urgent messages for i-15 from c-15, received after a delay of between one hour to five minutes, requesting status update and confirmation that unit i-15 is functional. Signal reception from the manufactory to the ship was too poor, and said messages were received just now, apologies.”

“It’s alright, please add an addendum to the recap. Tell c-15 that I sustained no damage and am attempting to rendezvous with the other squads, we haven’t been able to hear them either.”

“Certainly. Appended message sent.”

The three androids sat in silence, s-91 nursing his split calf by manually shutting off pain receptors, s-113 attempting to re-establish their channel, and i-15 contemplating what it was she saw.

The lift slowed, stopped, and ringed its chime as it opened its doors. They were back where they’d been before, the room still empty and dark.

“Any response from the other squads?” i-15 asked.

“None.” s-113 flicked away his display angrily. “The enemy must have set off their own jamming device, I can’t even reestablish the channel.”

“We’ll reconvene at the motorboat then, if they are aware communications are down they should know to meet there.”

They marched out the way they came, wary of hostile attention. The trip was somehow uneventful, all three returning to the beached boat unscathed.

The two battler units and single mechanic unit greeted them, seemingly surprised. “You guys satisfied already?”

s-113 tsk-ed, “We were swarmed by hostiles and comms are jammed, have the other squads been back or said anything?”

The m-unit shook her head, “You three are the only ones we’ve seen since we made landfall. Not even a stray stubby has been close to here.”

“Figures.” s-113 kicked at the gravel.

“Alright, thank you. I’ll be back asap.” i-15 started to round back to the facility, getting three steps in before the curly-haired scanner intercepted.

“What are you doing?” s-91 asked.

“I need to find the other squads and collect their intel for this mission to be considered a success. You and s-113 completed your portion, and given you are injured it only makes sense that you’d both remain here.”

“Uh...” s-91 looked uncertain.

“We have the OPTION to stay here, yeah.” s-113 interjected, “but I’m not going to be a lame ass who sits idle. Besides, if the other squads were unable to meet their quota we’re gonna have to pick up the slack.”

“Y-yeah!” s-91 pulled up a display of the island and highlighted two areas. “These are their last confirmed locations before our lines were cut.”

“We’ll start after squad alto, the main entry is closest.” i-15 locked target and squad bass set off.

* * *

A path was made of scattered destroyed machines and they followed it dutifully. They made their way down stairwells, across cavernous rooms, making a steady descent deeper into the facility.

The sound of metal on metal caught their attention.

“TAKé.” i-15 said, an order implicit in her tone.

“YorHa blackbox signals confirmed, as well as numerous machine lifeforms.”

“Engaging.” i-15 rounded into the next chamber, armed and pod positioned to fire.

Squad Alto was encumbered by a stunning number of machines, to the extent it was difficult for i-15 to recognize them immediately behind the deluge of trashed machine parts. Even with a majority of them dead, enough remained of the onslaught to still be worrisome for just three YorHa to take on.

i-15 opened fire, equipping her larger two black blades and cracking apart the bipedal machines that were attempting to crawl up the mound of their fallen comrades to get at the intruding androids.

s-91 and 113 provided support, and within moments the worst of the machine horde was quelled as the two squads fought to meet with one another. The last of the cracked and dying machine lifeforms were still uttering their death rattle when i-15 began to question c-87.

“Status update.”

c-87’s response, while calm, was clipped. “We traversed a cumulative 8 miles of the facility, were unable to direct communications to clef or bass, suspected jammer, began to search for it, sudden enemy presence occurred, began ascent under duress to reconvene.”

i-15 nodded appreciatively. “What is the status of your units?”

c-87 looked to where s-74 was with ease. While the large c-class unit looked mostly unscathed, s-74 clearly looked to have had many close calls, and with the release from combat had slumped against a wall.

i-15 continued to gaze around the chamber. s-91 had gone to where s-74 was while 113 was craning to peer across the small hill of machine corpses. i-15 twisted around searching still, before asking, “Where is s-79?”

c-87 stiffened. He shook his head, “Didn’t notice...”

s-74, still gasping to regulate his taxed and overheated components, managed to gasp out, “Got grabbed! They-they grabbed him. Too many to get off.” He panted and looked down where the trail of dead machines continued. “So many... so many.”

i-15 tore down the hall.

“TAKé”

“Searching for signals matching YorHa unit s-79’s blackbox.”

“Thank you.”

“Signal detected. Unit is 90 meters west.”

“Continue tracking.”

“Affirmative.”

With precision, i-15 ran from room to hall to room, closing the gap between her and her target with superhuman speed and efficiency.

And there he was.

Visibly damaged, his appendages were gripped from all sides as around a dozen bipedal machine lifeforms scurried haphazardly across the floor. Across the floor to a gaping circular hole.

i-15 hacked, physically and digitally, at the machine lifeforms, an action which only made the remaining pile move with increased haste. They were falling into the hole while still clutching the android. i-15 grabbed for his center, prying at the machines’ plier-like hands, underestimating their force and mass as the falling pile then clutched onto her own frame, sending them all tumbling down into the chasm.

s-113 screamed curses upon his arrival as s-91 limped behind.


	2. That We May Receive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> s-units: Scanner class, depended on for their mapping and intelligence gathering, designed to be insatiably curious, and capable of surpassing enemy firewalls and data attacks, with the crux of having very limited combat capability, similar to the state of Healer type units. S-type androids are no longer sent on solo missions, instead deployed in small groups of around three S-types and often one combat type to ensure thorough cohesive investigations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> // i don’t own nier automata but i do own all these feelings i got layin around so please enjoy this free transcript of them  
> // i desire no money from this but the time you’ve spent reading it is non-refundable sorry

F1rst Sequence: Adulation

The chasm was three meters in diameter, and their rate of descension was around 9.8 meters a second. Too fast for her pod unit to reliably keep up and not shoot her, try as it may, as it attempted to offer recovery fire to release i-15 from the vice-like clutches of half a dozen machine lifeforms that had pinned her to their mass alongside another of her android colleagues. s-79 had been rendered immobile due to damage, but i-15 remained vital enough to struggle.

Her arm ligaments were sturdier than those of the machines, superior stress-tested metals compared to their poorly alloyed bodies. Their hands popped away, and i-15 gripped and plunged one of her larger black blades into the side of the chasm. Sparks flew and the wall resisted and she tried again, exerting more force. The blade screeched from friction, slicing into the wall shallowly.

With her mid-section still held to the falling mass, i-15 braced as they continued to plummet.

The impact was swift.

Machine heads popped like corks from their bodies, ricocheting into darkness. i-15 had only just registered the metallic pinging of her own blade striking into a mass of metal before losing consciousness.

She was greeted by her dimly lit headspace.

Opening up her command prompt menu, she began to enter strings of orders to her own system.

[// run;doDiagnostic exeAll]

{Diagnostic Check Running...}

{Task Completed.}

{Moderate to Severe Damage Detected in Internal Components}

{Moderate Damage Detected on Dermal Layer of Appendage: All}

{Blackbox Green}

{Data Registry Green}

{No Logic Abnormality Detected}

[// set;TactileSystem do;False exeAll]

{Tactile Response Systems Deactivated.}

[// set;TactileSystem do;True exePressure]

{Tactile Responses Calibrated to Pressure Only}

[// run;SafetyMode do;Exit]

 

i-15 awoke upon a pile of shattered machine parts, the pod T473, TAKé, hovering above her, in the process of soldering a grievous gash across her arm.

“TAKé, report status of unit s-79.”

“Greetings i-15. s-79 is currently in safety mode and has sustained severe injury. All motor systems are impaired and in his current state unlikely to be capable of ambulation.”

“Is it possible to request emergency pickup from this location?”

“Negative.”

i-15 grimaced, forcing their damaged body to a sitting position. The scanner android beside her was indeed badly injured. A portion of his scalp torn, arms and legs badly mangled.

“However,” the pod continued, “According to maps collected during your mission, localized area scans conducted by myself during your internal diagnostics, and using aggregate data given by squad alto, a path reconnecting to the elevator earlier accessed by squad bass may exist a kilometer north from this location.”

i-15 nodded and heaved herself up, aided with one of the surprisingly sturdy arms of the pod. She went to similarly heave the scanner unit up only to be interrupted by her companion.

“Suggestion. Unit i-15 should go to the recommended point themself, as unit s-79 is incapable of voluntary movement and no longer able to complete the directive. Attempts to bring unit s-79 will compromise the safety of unit i-15.”

i-15 held the limp arm of the comatose scanner android. Even damaged, his features closely resembled those of the other scanner units, only differentiated by the presence of very short bright red hair. The pod unit hovered close beside her, clasping its own hands together in silence.

i-15 wrenched the scanner unit up from the debris and hoisted him across her back. “The risk of the enemy gaining confidential information from a digitally intact scanner unit is too high and would be detrimental to future attempts to eradicate this factory.”

“Understood. Suggestion. Unit i-15 should terminate unit s-79 to ensure safety of confidential data and mitigate potential bodily risk.”

i-15 gazed at the faceless front panel of her large black hovering pod unit. “Suggestion acknowledged and will be considered at a later time should such bodily risks become apparent.”

“Understood.” The pod dutifully levitated above her right shoulder, activating its flashlight. “Map point set for projected path location.”

It wasn’t that far, a fact i-15 struggled to believe. They walked dutifully towards it, legs audibly clicking from parts that were definitely no longer alright, but she would make do. She was built for high-stress situations, to create solutions, pave the way for future androids.

The information to be gained from this foray was invaluable, a prospect that made her feel fulfilled upon simply thinking of it. Future squads would be better prepared for whatever it was she would meet. They would enter this place boldly, reclaim it efficiently, destroy all hostile forces swiftly.

She walked with such focus on her goal she nearly missed her pod alerting her to approaching energy sources.

“Alert. YorHa blackbox signals detected, as well as several machine lifeforms. 

“Which way?” 

“Northeast. However, the recommended path follows northwest.”

“Mark their location please.”

“Certainly. Location marked for future reconnaissance.”

“The reconnaissance is me. TAKé, please standby with unit s-79.”

“Suggestion. Unit i-15 should-“

“TAKé.” 

“... Certainly, i-15.”

The pod hovered above the comatose scanner as he was set down by i-15. After a couple bad and stilted steps, she strode toward the YorHa signals, progressing from a jog to a sprint.

Her own loud boot steps were soon matched by several more running in her direction through the darkness, frantic voices shouting out between sharp machine cries.

All of squad clef ran and stumbled as they caught up to i-15, who continued past and drove her blades into the carapace of the first machine that got close.

Emboldened by the arrival of another companion, the other scanner units turned to lend support, reacting more on hard-programmed directive than anything else. With the i unit taking the brunt of the machines direct attacks, the scanner models were finally free to take down the enemies from within, hacking apart the enemies’ logic systems and causing them to combust upon eachother. 

The scuffle finished, the scanners did a round of joyous shouts, one punching the air before loudly hissing in pain. i-15 was hunched over, using her blades for balance. When in better condition, her evasion skills were impeccable. In this state, however, she’d sustained more than a couple blows to her already battered body.

One scanner, s-65, moved to help support her. i-15 shook her head, saying, “I’m good. Status report and relay of gathered intel would be nice though.”

s-65, looking a bit mixed at the denial of his help, nodded and began to transfer a data package to i-15. “Squad clef met early enemy resistance but managed for some time as enemies appeared to be structurally weakened. We proceeded with the gathering of intel even after loss of connection with squad bass. We assumed squad alto had also left communication range before figuring out we could no longer relay any data ourselves over the network. We detected a sudden spike in enemy activity from all sides.” He swallowed thickly, “Hostiles were... Overwhelming in number. Brittle, but so many. We attempted to reroute our way out of the facility only to be met with heavy resistance. They cut off paths until we were forced down a large shaft and we’ve been trying to get back up to the surface since.” While more composed than his companions, s-65 was just as visibly damaged as they were, all sporting injured limbs from where machine hands had grabbed and punctured them.

“Did you fall down here?” i-15 asked.

“No, more like herded. We’ve been running around half-blind.” s-120 piped up.

i-15 made mental note. “Understood. What is the condition of your motor functions?”

“Yellow, between all three of us. s-120 has lost most use of his right arm however.”

“Understood. Thank you. Here are the map coordinates I currently have for this sector and the location of a possible route that may lead to the surface.”

s-120 beamed at the prospect. “That close? Hell yeah, let’s get going.”

i-15 grinned, straightening up and walking up alongside the scanners. “Hell yeah.”

For i-15, the trip back the way she’d come from was laboriously slow. When they made it to where she’d last been, she greeted her pod, unmoved from its post. “Greetings, i-15.”

“Thank you, TAKé.” More clumsily than before, i-15 hoisted the unconscious form of s-79 back up and onto her own back.

“Resuming routing for probable exit path.” The pod lit the hall ahead from i-15’s shoulder. “Suggestion. Unit i-15 should request units s-65, 106, or 120 assist with the transport of unit s-79.”

The scanners shifted uneasily as the pod directed its faceless frontal panel towards them, flashlight still held steady ahead for the ease of i-15’s continued march.

“What’s wrong with him?” asked s-106, differentiated from his companions by his dark complexion and darker freckles.

The pod responded quickly, “Units s-79 and i-15 have sustained severe internal injuries due to a thousand meter fall, unit s-79 had also suffered severe external injury from machine lifeforms prior to the fall.” Though monotonous in tone, the inflection of imposed shame was not lost on the accompanying scanners.

“Holy shit,” was whispered by s-120 as he nervously rubbed at his broken right arm.

s-65, still sporting an expression that was difficult to read, stepped forward. “I’ll carry him. I’m in the best condition out of all of us.”

He held out his hands expectantly, only to receive a quiet equally inscrutable look from i-15. “Suggestion acknowledged, however, I have a higher load-bearing capacity than these scanner units.”

The pod butted in before s-65’s taking gesture could falter, saying, “In unit i-15’s current state, the difference is negligible.”

“Acknowledged. Unit s-65 is then more valuable unburdened to lend combat support as he is currently more fit to do so.”

The pod hummed as it processed, then responded, “Certainly. Suggestion rescinded.” s-65 let his hands drop, uncertain of what to do. “Squad clef will be best utilized in formation ahead of unit i-15.”

s-106 moved as if to argue, then huffed, equipping his short sword while 120 already had his in his off-hand. i-15 allowed them to walk ahead of her and they continued on.

 

* * *

 

“It can’t just be simple.” s-106 peered around the corner of the hall they were in. “No, never simple.” 

The androids had all huddled together alongside the wall. Ahead of them was the main metal factory i-15 had traversed earlier that day. Just a little ways into it was a path that led back to an elevator that went nearly all the way to the surface. Between them and that exit was an unknowable number of enemies, as the machines energy signatures were undetectable until they activated.

s-106 grumbled in whispers, “Just get to the elevator, the pod says. It has the highest probability of success, the pod says.” He gesticulated at the hovering rectangle. “What does the pod have to say about how we’re going to do that?”

T473 hummed, then responded, “Modern generation YorHa are equipped with superior teamwork skills. The scanner units s-65, 106, and 120 should utilize unit i-15’s Connective Focus to traverse through the enemy forces.”

“That requires a network connection.” s-120 chimed in.

“Correct. Although limited, I am equipped with local networking functions with a radius of fifty feet.” The pod extended an antenna from its left arm and held it aloft like a baton.

i-15 nodded. “I can do that. Do I have your guys’ permission to access your sensors and aural displays?” 

“Yes.” s-65’s response was nearly instant. 120 and 106 came after, with more hesitation on 106’s part.

“Establishing connection.” T473 twitchily gestured with the antenna, alert displays popping up for the scanner units. They confirmed access and another display appeared for i-15, who had her eyes shut. “Connection complete. CF link is now active.” 

i-15 opened her eyes to the other androids’ expectant stares beyond the mostly translucent display screen.

“Are you all prepared to enter?”

“No.” s-120 said. “But we have to.”

s-65 took the lead, with 120 and 106 flanking i-15 on either side. The urge to make a direct mad dash for the elevator was strong, the urgency of making sure they all got out was stronger.

YorHa were not allowed to leave bodies behind, a fact the pod reminded the squad of.

The machines were resourceful. They scavenged whatever parts they could from anything they could. Adapted to it, as easily as slipping on new shoes. The fear of being left behind was on par with the fear of encountering an enhanced machine lifeform that utilized the stolen talents of comrades.

“Prepare for CF relay on my mark.” i-15 fumbled a step before continuing in the march. “Three.” She could see the mass of pipes from earlier. “Two.” Through s-65’s feed she could see the machines waiting all around it. “One.” She could sense how poorly s-120 held his blade in his left hand. “Mark.”

The machines moved as though they were a singular mass. A directed multi-cellular organism with a shared pursuit. For i-15, everything slowed down as the Connected Focus kicked in. With the shared processing power of the scanner units, the hectic motions of the machines became clear.

She saw one biped readying to cleave s-65, who was busy hacking multiple advancing machines, and s-120 blocked the blow. s-106 was directed to dodge the many grasping hands of the advancing cluster and moved in sync with it. As soon as they thought of what needed to be done, they did it.

i-15, with the increased sight, took more certain and predicted steps. It would take this long for these hostiles to be terminated. It would take this long for T473’s laser to recharge. In that span, they would advance this far.

The orders were rapid and followed in impeccable sequence. It looked as though the androids were dancing. Even injured and burdened, i-15’s steps were attuned to those of the scanners whose own motions swept away incoming hostiles. They were nearly there, already entering the final stretch for the elevator.

Then the pipes burst.

A blast of viral energy attempted to infiltrate their systems, destroying the surrounding lesser machine lifeforms in its wake as they screamed in anger.

Rising from the wreckage of pipes, which were pumping copious amounts of boiling water and fuel across the floor and into the ceiling, was a machine type none of them had ever seen before.

Its maw was like an oversized needle-nose plier, its “teeth” made of a solid riveted hunk of iron. Its body rose, made of machine torso after machine torso, covered with arms and heavy duty excavation equipment.

i-15 had forced s-79 into s-65’s arms and directed the squad to move as the machine reached outward. An iron scoop struck soundly onto i-15’s drawn blade, nearly crumpling the android.

“What do we do?” s-106 yelled, “Tell us what to do!”

Another blast of viral energy. The machine had atop its head a large, violently red, glowing sphere.

i-15 shut off their connection, the scanners dismayed and disoriented by the onslaught and sudden loss of hyper focus. She directed her pod to fire upon the machine, drawing two large black blades and crossing them just in time to block another blow. It was still rising from the floor, more arms, advancing towards them. 

“Run for it!” i-15 shouted. 

s-65 hesitated, s-120 pulling at s-79’s body and forcing the scanner to share the burden and run. s-106 struck at the machine’s outstretched hands as they all made their retreat.

“STAY HERE.” the machine screeched. “STAY HERE. THEY WILL WANT YOU. WE WANT YOU.” 

The scanners were sprinting, i-15 doing her best to keep pace. The machine continued to advance. Its many arms heaved and pulled it across the factory floor, shrugging off the pod’s heavy fire. 

Her breaths were rapid and sharp. The group would not make it in time for the elevator to arrive and shut before the machine got to them. She shouted at the pod, “TAKé, transfer a copy of all collected mission data to unit s-65!”

“Compilation and transfer of data will take 5 seconds.”

“That’s fine! Do it!”

“Request sent to s-65 for reception of collected mission data. Does this unit accept?” The pod continued to fire.

“What the hell are you doing? Just run!” s-65 shouted.

“Accept it!” i-15 slashed at the assailing machine, narrowly missing being crushed by the construct’s solid head.

“Fine! I accept!” s-65 was nearly breathless. 

“Transferral of all current mission data complete.”

“TAKé, please confirm my termination should I be unable to eliminate this hostile.” i-15 slashed at it, slowing her advance to the elevator. “And ensure a copy of the data is available for c-15 to review.” 

The pod’s fire slowed, “Certainly, i-15.”

The scanners could see the elevator room. They could also see i-15 stop running. s-65 cursed, s-120 still forcing him along with their shared burden. As s-106 slammed the elevator call button, he shouted out, “Kick its ass!”

i-15 nodded and then wholly focused upon the foe before her.

Unlike the other machines, its parts were solid. Heavy laser fire barely dented its many, many, limbs and even as i-15 knocked one off, a multitude of others seemed to replace it. It grabbed at her, and she found herself having to scale across its body like a flea to evade.

The chime of the elevator let her know they’d just begun their ascent. It’d take them five minutes to reach the surface levels. Three to leave her blast radius.

She had to survive three more minutes and the mission would be complete. She began to prime her blackbox.

“STAY HERE! HERE!” The construct screamed. It smashed around, desperately trying to grab the android.

“IF YOU ARE HERE.” It bellowed, red orb glowing, “THEY WILL COME FOR YOU. MORE WILL COME. MORE WILL STAY. MORE. MORE. MORE.”

i-15 was overheating. The stifling air of the factory and the heat of combat had her practically melting.

“WE WANT MORE! OF YOU! STAY HERE! STAYYY! MORE OF YOU. MORE. WE WANT YOU. YOU. YOUR BONES.”

It was beginning to come together for her, the machine’s seemingly aimless behavior was not so. There was an intention all along.

“YOUR BONES. WE WANT YOU. MORE OF YOU. NEED YOUR BONES. WE WANT YOU. WANT WANT WANT WANT.”

YorHa were not allowed to leave bodies because machines would use them. YorHa who went missing in action had to be retrieved. YorHa who were terminated in combat had to be retrieved. They could not leave bodies, and would have to come back for them, using more bodies.

The factory, nest as some would call it, was starving.

It knew it was being watched, that they would come when something unusual happened. And so it invited them to look. 

“MORE WILL COME FOR YOU. MORE WILL COME TO SEE WHAT WE DO. MORE! MORE! MORE! BONES! BONES! BONES!”

i-15 could feel her core reaching extreme temperatures. Her synthetic skin grew tacky. Her insides were warping from heat and she found herself practically bouncing like putty when the machine landed a blow.

A machine hive that was learning to manipulate their attempts to research it could not be allowed to continue.

“TAKé.” She sputtered, blackened fuel leaking down her lips. 

The pod ceased fire and blinked away, transposing to the elevator and upwards.

The machine screeched as it grasped her, raising her into the air. “STAY HERE! STAY! MORE! BONES!” She gazed into the glowing angry red orb.

She’d managed just under three minutes, she thought grimly. But it would have to do. And she detonated, vision corrupting into a haze of white as the machine screamed, and screamed, as it died.

 

* * *

  

A unit i-15 finished their startup routine, sitting up in bed to look out the window of their respite block. A blue sky greeted them, the sunlit forested earth below vibrant.

They put on their boots, laced them up, and stood. A black pod with a beige stripe activated and alighted from a shelf.

“Greetings, i-15. You are to meet with unit c-15 for your debriefing and to be given your new mission.”

“Thank you.” They read the pod’s serial number. “T473.” 

They exited the room, the door automatically sliding open and shutting behind them. The slightly curved hallway extended to their left and right, identical doors lining either side, designated by user nameplates beside each one.

Other androids passed by as i-15 walked to their marked destination. Some waved, and i-15 smiled and waved back. They turned and entered a large room split into multiple levels, one full of desks and chairs where many androids were busily typing away at displays or actively communicating with unseen recipients; another with large bulky equipment that intermittently opened to have a deactivated android body be placed inside, and then reopened as the same android left of their own volition; and finally the ground floor, a flat expanse with groups of armored androids being given lectures by battalion leaders and a half-circle desk that looked out at them, backed by a wall full of screens and live feeds of various locations on earth.

i-15 could see c-15 on the ground floor and walked to the lift. As they got in, a scanner unit on the ground floor spotted them, then elbowed his neighbors to get their attention. His hair was white with black speckles, and as i-15 was carried down by the lift the group of scanners were hooting and cheering. i-15 found themself smiling back, even when other androids started to demand the rowdy scanners hush up.

The pepper-haired android gave them two thumbs up, a gesture i-15 returned, and then found themself face to face with c-15. Where the scanners were nearly childish, c-15 had the appearance of a young adult, his brown hair a bit too long to be called short and not long enough to be considered long. His eyes, a bluish slate color, were friendly, and i-15 recognized him well even with no memory of having ever interacted with him before.

“You’re pretty popular.” He smiled and laughed, softly.

i-15 laughed too. “I guess so.” They had no idea who any of those scanners were.

“I-uh... I have a data package prepared for you. It’s been cleared by command and should get you back up to speed on the essentials of your social status as well as other necessary stuff. So... Yeah.” He shuffled his feet, bashful. “Do you accept this transferral of data?” He held out his right hand.

“I accept.” i-15 took hold of it with their own. The package was unpacked and they closed their eyes as the data was sorted and read. c-15 was their assigned Custodian unit, and waves of memories swept through her mind. Him repairing her injuries, her reporting to him on past missions, them meeting many different resistance androids. She recalled who some of the scanners were, only limited to their names and social status (acquaintance, friendly, negative). She remembered the nickname of her pod, and of c-15’s.

She opened her eyes to see c-15 looking a bit worried. She gave his hand a squeeze, then looked at their pods. “Hello TAKé, hello RøXY,” Then beamed at c-15. “It’s nice to see you again.”


	3. I Admire You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> m-units: Mechanic class, specialized YorHa androids not intended for combat, instead designed to utilize gathered intel and resources to develop and repair weapons and vehicles to be used by the YorHa forces. While some units are stationed in Resistance and YorHa outposts to provide their services, most all spend their entire existence within the YorHa bunker, working together to craft top-of-the-line tools.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> // i don’t own any nier property  
> // or any far properties for that matter  
> // in any case i financially profit from nothing involving this fan work, but i do emotionally profit from knowing i’ve shared it with others

2econd Sequence: Because

 

The bunker was a soothing monochromatic place. With the exception of androids’ personal attire and the colored display lights of the equipment, everything was designed to be simple and appealing to look at. The subtle curvature of the walkways was accented by the neatly rounded doorways and arched halls. Shades of silver, black, and white made up the palette of the facility.

So it was interesting for i-15, as she walked alongside c-15, to see some YorHa dressed in attire that either complimented or clashed with the facility they lived in. Mixed with the classic standard of black and white dress attire were androids who sported more casual, brightly colored, clothing, and somehow more amusing were those who chose to remain in full combat armor, looking large and imposing when conversing with an android in a simple yellow shirt and gray sweatpants.

i-15 noticed her outfit fell somewhere between the classic dress outfits and more casual stylings. Her white shirt with black sleeves more similar to a fancy tee and embossed with the YorHa logo in black on the front. Her pants, shorter in the style of caprees, solid black with white embellishment around the pockets. Her boots were thick and solid, combat style, with no extended heel contrary to what seemed to be the popular style of the combat androids. In fact, i-15 mused, it seemed her attire would fit in fairly well with many of the scanners if only it had some more color to it.

c-15 was also dressed somewhere between the classic and casual. Where i-15’s attire was mostly black with accents of white, c-15’s was the opposite, his shirt black with white sleeves and white emblem, longer white pants with black embellishment, and white runner-style shoes.

c-15 wasn’t blind to her examination of all these things. “Sorry,” he said, “I should have thought to put in a reference of current dress-code in the update packet for you.”

i-15 shook her head, “No worries, that data isn’t necessary for me to function.”

He sighed, not annoyed but amused, and continued, “Well, should you need anything or want to ask anything, I’m happy to give you the information if I have it.” They turned and entered another hall. “After we make sure all your systems are up to date and all that, of course.”

After her debriefing, i-15 had been informed of several things. Firstly, command was greatly pleased with her behavior on her last mission. Secondly, i-15 was to finish her maintenance cycle with c-15 and undergo a “handshake”, a procedure where two androids sync, in their case re-sync, their data transferral signal wavelengths to ensure both were fully connected and their systems clean and operational. Lastly, i-15 was going to be allowed “free-roam” mission status, meaning she would be deployed in the nearby Resistance camp to fulfill civil duties and accomplish tasks relevant to her abilities.

The two androids approached a room, label to the side reading “c-15”, and entered. c-15’s respite block was identical to i-15’s, containing a simple bed, some shelving units, a terminal to allow access to bunker resources, and a pair of simplified chairs that faced a white desk. Unlike i-15’s room, where she recalled there being blueprints and architecture focused papers on her desk, c-15’s had a spread of loose-bound notebooks with notations of “flora”, “fauna”, and “natural phenomena”.

c-15 gestured to an open seat, which i-15 took, both androids sitting apart and facing one another.

“Alright, so, I’m going to initiate the handshake now.” A translucent display opened in front of c-15. “I’ll walk you through the process, it can be a little overwhelming at first.”

A request to begin the syncing process popped up on i-15’s own display, which she accepted. “Sounds fine to me.”

“Beginning in three. Two. One. Sync.”

i-15’s focus reverted into her headspace. Within this space, an internalized reference all YorHa androids had of their systems, i-15’s avatar was that of a black triangular cursor, which she used to navigate and maneuver through it.

She could see the opened bridge that led from her own system to c-15’s and started across it as little text prompts of his began to show.

[c-15] • okay so first you’re going to need to meet me in the opened channel

[c-15] • oh you’re already doing that!

[c-15] • cool, yeah, that’s the first step

 

i-15’s cursor sailed along the linear path until she met up with c-15’s own white triangular cursor.

 

[i-15] • hello again!

[c-15] • hi!

 

She started to circle around his cursor, a movement which he mirrored.

 

[c-15] • so next we’re going to need to uh

Their cursors continued to circle around.

 

[c-15] • next is uh

[c-15] • haha i’m gettin dizzy hold on

 

His cursor halted and i-15’s bumped into it, sending both sliding across the floor of the virtual space.

 

[i-15] • whoops!

[c-15] • sorry my bad! (óДò );;

[i-15] • it’s cool! what next?

[c-15] • the next step is to cross the threshold of eachother’s internal dataspace and start the full manual sync.

[c-15] • it’s performed a lot like hacking modern machine lifeforms.

[c-15] • only there’s no negative consequences if you mess up on holding the rhythm here.

[c-15] • because you are equipped with an evolving algorithm we gotta re-sync like this every so often to make sure your system can still communicate with mine.

[c-15] • once you pass into the threshold of my system you’ll be given a sequence of prompts to follow in a timed pattern.

[c-15] • the same will happen for me when i enter yours.

[c-15] • if you do mess up i’ll simply restart the sequence for you until you get through.

[c-15] • and that should be it!

[i-15] • okay! i’ll get started, see you on the other side! ( ‘ v ‘)b

[c-15] • ah! okay! d(^‿^ )

 

Just as c-15 had described, as i-15 crossed the bridge into what must be c-15’s internal dataspace the narrow path stretched and bent downwards, causing her cursor to slide along it and go headlong into large action prompts.

It took a moment to adjust before i-15 was accomplishing the prompts with relative ease. There was a rhythm to it, a pattern her system found familiar, as it didn’t take long at all for her to finish the syncing process. Her cursor skidded into c-15’s headspace, allowing her to see a file system that was very nearly identical to her own.

 

[i-15] • did it!

[c-15] • nice!

[c-15] • uhm, it’s going to take me just a little bit longer to finish mine.

[c-15] • feel free to look around if you want.

 

i-15 directed her cursor to read what was around her. She could see several narrow paths that led to what looked to be clusters of data packets.

 

[i-15] • is there anything i should leave alone?

[c-15] • nope! everything you see is fair game.

[c-15] • as your custodian, we need to have full transparency on what information is stored in our dataspaces.

[c-15] • which means uh... i kinda have to go through all your files too.

[c-15] • sorry.

[i-15] • that’s fine! sounds sensible to me.

 

i-15 floated around and explored her companion’s data. She could see his main operating system, body condition reports, his personal system configuration, general recent aural data. As she looked, she felt that the space was actually quite small, and found a part of herself disappointed somehow.

 

[c-15] • okay my sync and check is complete.

[c-15] • everything seems to be working fine. sorry for taking so long.

[i-15] • that’s fine!

[i-15] • didja find anything cool? ( ô v õ)

[c-15] • not this time haha

[c-15] • uh, okay, i’m gonna end the link now

 

i-15 awoke, still sat in c-15’s room, with him standing up and offering a hand to her. “You ready to head out or would you like some more time to get your bearings?”

“I think I’m ready to get going.” She took his hand in her own and stood. “We use an elevator, right?”

It was sort of like an elevator, as i-15 found out and c-15 explained. The Gehenna bunker, where YorHa was centralized, was located above the Gethsemane Resistance Camp, founded within the Goldilocks forest belt. It was a primary prospective region for future reclamation and habitation for humanity. While a majority of hostile alien machine forces had been extinguished, there still existed a particularly hardy machine factory within the forest, which prevented Resistance members from being able to fully invest in rehabilitating the area.

The machine forces had also set up intense anti-aircraft defenses while YorHa had established their own, leading to a stalemate in which neither side could safely transport anything in bulk in the air. This led to the creation of the “Needle”. The Needle was an incredibly tall, thin, marvel of architecture that went straight up from the heart of the Gethsemane camp to the Gehenna bunker. It was equipped with a large platform that it lifted and descended every two hours, which the androids used to transport goods up and down as well as themselves.

It was thanks to the Needle and the waterways that androids were still able to defend the Goldilocks line from machine takeover.

“Neat.” i-15 said, cheerfully buckling herself into the lift beside c-15, their pods levitating peaceably behind them. “Anything I need to especially look out for down there? Persons of interest?”

c-15 laughed. “Sort of? The leader of this Resistance camp goes by Tenny, she’ll be your best resource for finding targets to pursue.” He procured a small display presenting a static image of a tall, older looking, android woman with long dark-brown hair and a heavily patterned cowl. Her expression was neutral, hands held folded in front of her, and exuded authority.

“She runs a tight regiment. They do allow non-hostile anomalous machines into the camp, but they’re required to provide resources and labor for entry. Uh, you’ll understand when you see it.” He saw the puzzled look i-15 was giving him. “I also was told you should not try and approach the local machine factory at this time. Command is still planning out how they would like to handle it and have the entrance under surveillance.”

The lift had begun to descend, motors humming and hydraulics squeaking as brakes were released and the whole platform unhooked from the bunker’s floor.

“Alright. Check in with Tenny, don’t go to the factory. Got it.” She leaned forward in her seat, trying to peer over the edge of the moving platform. The forested land below was a sea of green, bordered to the east by a stretch of gray rocky land and then abruptly dropped off into the actual sea. To the west, the forestland continued for a ways before thinning and becoming scrubland. Beyond that, she could barely make out what looked to be plateaus. Then, up in the air, much smaller than the blinding sun, was the moon.

i-15 held her left hand above her core as she happily looked up at it. c-15, looking at her with a soft expression, did the same. Other androids on the lift had either already done so or, seeing the two performing the gesture, hastily tried to reflect it before returning to their business.

* * *

“That’s 32 crates of iodized salt, 2 tanks of petrol, 8 fuel filters-“ A mechanic unit was going over an itemized list with a look of concentration clear on her face, the resistance android nodding along, her own expression passive.

i-15 had unbuckled from the lift and was moving along and around the crowd of androids busily shuffling cargo to and from the platform. Multiple combat androids stepped off and moved as a group in one direction, more mechanic units were heaving containers to where they had been, some battler units helped move the largest of the cargo. c-15 motioned for i-15 to follow and they walked a ways away from the bustle of the oversized elevator.

Surrounding the incredibly tall structure was a paved pavilion, makeshift shelters and small buildings circling around, with paths extending outward in spirals. Some buildings were taller than others and two warehouses could be seen, and everywhere i-15 looked the tops of trees were visible all around them.

Resistance androids were easy enough to tell apart from YorHa. For one, they were most always taller, with YorHa androids being around the five foot range, Resistance members instead typically stood closer to six feet in height. For another, Resistance were dressed in layers of patterns and camouflage, years of battle and wear and tear apparent. Many camp residents also sported other defining Resistance attributes, mismatched limbs or use of unattached tools to aid mobility.

And, to i-15’s great interest, a few machine lifeforms could be seen joining in the camp’s regular activities. A quadruped type transporting building materials, a pair of small stubby types seemingly haggling with an android vendor, and a hovering type joining in on a conversation and startling a healer unit in the process so badly she screamed.

c-15 nudging i-15 in the side brought back her attention. “What’s up?”

“Tenny should be over there, the building with the red burlap cover. I’m going to be just over in the square getting some supplies.” He pointed to where he meant, “I won’t be able to join you for missions today, but if you need anything, repairs, advice, to visit, I should be here in the camp.” He then gestured at her pod. “You can also message me any time. We have a really good signal in this area. If you get into any trouble-“

“I’ll let you know.” i-15 gave c-15 a reassuring smile and pulled him into a hug. The embrace was quick and c-15’s soft expression lingered as i-15 walked away, “I’ll report back later!”

“Just don’t get so caught up that you vanish for a week!” c-15 called out.

“I’ve done that?” i-15 asked, laughing.

“Three times!” He held up as many fingers.

“Then I can’t promise anything!” i-15 approached the red-covered building, her steps giddy.

There was no door to the building, the red burlap tented out as an awning to keep the worst of the elements out. Inside were metal shelving units stacked to the brim with boxes, an old computer terminal hooked up to a generator, tables and chairs, and many Resistance androids busy at work. Tenny was actually first to approach i-15, her taller figure much more prominent in person compared to the static image.

“Are you the i-model Rubra told me was coming?” Tenny asked.

i-15 saluted and nodded. “i-15, I have been ordered, under Commander Rubra, to offer aid to your camp.”

A burly Resistance android looked up from the paperwork she had on the table in front of her. “Infiltrator? What do they think we need to do with an infiltrator type?”

i-15 shrugged. “The orders were non-specific. If there is any job that you feel could be handled by myself, I am here to do it.”

Another android spoke up from where she was sitting, “Could always use more bodies to try and map that factory.”

“Except that. I’ve been told to not do any missions involving the factory.”

“Well shit, what good is it then?”

Tenny shushed the other androids. “I’m sure we can make use of it.” She shuffled some papers before procuring a pink sheet. “We have a public notice board of civic duties and requests that can be fulfilled by you YorHa units. I haven’t had these requests posted yet, so feel free to work your way down this list as you see fit.” She held up the paper and i-15’s pod scanned it.

“File saved.”

“Thank you, TAKé. Please review the available requests and list them according to relevance to my model type.”

“Certainly. Reviewing. Of fifty three available requests, fifteen are relevant to research and problem solving, twenty two to eradication of hostiles, eight to retrieval of lost personal items, five to physical labor, and three to personal services.” A Resistance android stifled a laugh. “Omitting irrelevant tasks and prioritizing those deemed of higher concern. Success. Of fifty three tasks, five have been cleared as sufficient of i-15’s capabilities.”

“Thank you, TAKé. Please set route for the topmost task.”

“Certainly.” The pod hummed and then blipped, a map point set on i-15’s visual feed.

“I’ll report back once I’ve accomplished these tasks. Thank you for your time.” i-15 saluted once more to the Resistance leader and exited the structure. Tenny tsk-ed as she left, returning the paper to its stack and reshuffling.


	4. I Have Things To Do

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> h units: Healer class, arguably the most valuable yet vulnerable type of YorHa unit, as they are capable of expunging a wide variety of viruses and injuries to their allies but, in return, have very little in the way of offensive or defensive capabilities. Healer units are typically only deployed with assigned YorHa battalions or on group missions including at least three additional combat units.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> // i still don’t own nier automata  
> // but i do own this nifty transformative work  
> // and a giant spinny lollipop i own that too

2econd Sequence: Because

 

 

 

The first step was to locate and confirm the errand’s details with the requestee. It took a little work, comparing the given name to the bunker’s Resistance archives, but was still a relatively quick process. The black pod projected a small picture display for i-15. “Target confirmed. Requestee, designated ‘Allium’, registered AR-46-g, was last reported seen at local ranger outpost 4. Placing marker on map.”

“Thank you, TAKé.” i-15 gave her pod an appreciative pat. The Gethsemane camp was fairly large, built to utilize as much of a natural clearing as possible before then trimming away at the native flora when expansion became necessary. The usage of the naturally weather resistant trees and their water-retaining foliage helped to create a barrier around the camp, which the residents were in the process of reinforcing through the planting of more trees and thick shrubs.

With such dense foliage, and such heavy aerial defenses against them, the android Resistance relied on old-fashioned ranger squads to identify, report, and defend the camp and their outposts from enemy attacks. Thankfully, the healthy woodlands made it difficult for large groups of machines to travel together, just as much as it made it difficult for the androids to transport anything on foot.

i-15 hopped up atop the camp’s buildings, using her pod to fling her across lengthy gaps. It would be faster, she reasoned, than walking through the crowded streets. She hadn’t been the only one to have had that thought, other YorHa androids leaping across the structures with one Resistance member shaking a fist in the air yelling, “If you break it you fix it!”

She passed by Resistance constructing defenses, a couple more biped machines lending aid. She noted that the machine lifeforms within the camp were branded with a sigil, an olive branch with two sprigs and ten leaves. There weren’t many of the machines in the camp, but what ones were there were quite obvious and none were seen idling.

i-15 landed spryly on the grassy earth, jogging a few paces and then settling into an idle walk as she approached the ranger outpost. Outpost 4 was a wooden structure, with steel reinforcement, built into the side of a large tree. Cables hung down from the roof of the structure and went into the ground, power cables from what i-15 could understand. Standing beside a stack of crates were more Resistance androids who i-15 introduced herself to.

“Unit i-15, I am here to fulfill the errand you requested at camp.” She directed her attention to one of them, an android with lavender-toned hair and a patched eye. “If you have a moment, Allium, I would greatly appreciate any specifics and details relating to this mission.”

Allium folded her arms and nodded. “You YorHa are quick, when you want to be. I just gave Tenny that request a few hours ago.” She gestured to the pile of crates. “We need to get supplies to an outpost out in the woods. Problem is, we’ve had four shipments already intercepted and wrecked on its way there. Weird part is that whatever’s doing it doesn’t take anything. Just messes it up and leaves.”

i-15 hummed, “Mm-hm. Has any android confirmed a visual of the suspect, reported any kind of attack?”

Allium was leaning on the crate stack. “Nothing but blurs. Some people have been injured, not lethally yet but if these attacks keep up we might lose our entire outpost out there just from lack of supplies. Everyone whose come back says it moved too fast for them to keep up with, got in and out of the trees before they could really look at it, knocked them around pretty good so they decided to just cut their losses and run for it.”

“Has there been any pattern to when it attacks?”

“Yeah. It doesn’t show up if you’re not carrying anything. We’ve sent out our own teams to try and track it down, got nothing, thought it was okay to send another shipment, got messed up.” Allium straightened and patted a box beside her. “That’s where you come in. We’ve made a few decoy crates, just got some scrap in them so they make noise. Your job would be to take a wagon out there and lure the thing out.”

i-15 nodded. “Will I be escorting anyone?”

“Nope, all you. Can’t afford having more of my own getting beat up. It’s up to you if you want to take any of your friends, could’ve sworn I requested at least two of you.” Allium paused. “What type did you say you were?”

“I am an i-type. And assistance won’t be necessary.” i-15 saluted, “Thank you for trusting me with this mission.”

At Allium’s direction, a wagon was prepared and filled with the decoy crates. To pull it, a large hoofed animal was strapped into a yoke and attached to the simple vehicle, i-15 handed the stirrups as she sat up on it. “You ever ride one of these before?” Allium asked, watching i-15 examine the ropes in her hands and the beast below her.

T473 chimed in, “Unit i-15 has four registered domesticated animal riding routines.” It was news to i-15, even when holding the lead and sitting upon the animal ghosted familiarity.

“This thing isn’t domestic.” Allium smiled, mischief evident. “But it’s the only one we have that doesn’t scare easy going up that road. Just don’t try to touch her ears.” And with that, Allium smartly smacked the rump of the animal, setting it to a trot.

As i-15 was sent on her way, the Resistance android shouted out, “And when you find that thing, do whatever you want. Kill it, dissect it, just make sure it won’t be in our way anymore.”

* * *

“TAKé, please describe what animal this is.” i-15, while comfortable on it, was curious of the creature.

“Certainly. Unit i-15 is currently riding a Cervus Canadensis, also known as Elk or Wapiti. In old world texts, elk were a wild food and game source for humans and rarely kept as an alternative pack animal. Where males historically shed their antlers frequently, ecological stresses and poor genetic diversity has forced modern females of the species to retain them to better defend their young.”

“It’s pretty big. It’s an ungulate, has to have more than one stomach chamber.” She patted the side of the animal, watching it nip at low hanging branches as it walked. “I’m guessing three?”

“Close,” The pod hummed, “this species has a four chambered stomach and requires plentiful fodder for optimal performance. To properly digest their diet of fibrous forage, including bark, the animal chews and swallows to their first stomach, regurgitates and chews again, swallows and repeats with the second stomach, before allowing the plant matter to fully pass through their system.”

i-15 scrunched up her face, mocking disgust while sticking her tongue out playfully. “Gnarly. Send c-15 a copy of that data with no explanation please.”

“Certainly. Message sent.”

i-15 enjoyed a brief moment of silence, taking in the scenery before her pod beeped with an incoming page.

“Incoming transmission from c-15.” The pod projected a display in front of i-15.

“Gross! What has you thinking about deer stomachs?” His scrunched face of disgust was genuine.

“Nothin, just thought it was interesting and fun to share.” i-15 smiled as c-15’s small projection peered up over her shoulder in suspicion.

“Ohhh, I get it. You’re on one huh?” He shook his head, grinning. “What’s the camp making you do? Delivery service?”

“Sort of.” i-15 leaned back and sprawled on the elk, c-15’s mini display following as she moved. “I’m helping them sort out an issue on one of their routes. Shouldn’t be too much to worry about.” The elk dutifully followed the path ahead of it without direction, the small wagon behind it jingling and jumping as they made their way across bumps.

“Ah, alright. Well, keep me posted, my comm line is always open.” He squinted and stuck his tongue out. “Even if you just want to talk about deer guts.”

i-15 laughed, saying, “See ya.” and then waved the display away, ending the call.

With little else to do, i-15 closed her eyes and waited in silence.

The only sign that anything was wrong was the elk barely faltering one of her steps, before the cart was sent side-long from impact, the yoke attached to the animal wrenching it off its feet as it was carried with its load from sheer force. i-15 pried apart the restraints from the animal as it kicked wildly, also releasing her hold on its reigns and avoiding being trampled by the beast.

i-15 twisted, searching for the assailant, when it found her first. The second impact threw her to the ground, the construct out of sight before she even landed.

There, i-15 laid on the ground, silent and still while the elk screeched in distress and ran off into the woods, leaving behind the android and fake cargo.

The pod hovered above its designated user. They remained motionless while the unknown attacker hid away. i-15 lay still where she’d fallen, listening intently.

The machine, she was sure it was a machine, was indeed unusual. Without any further noise, it slinked out of the undergrowth, and crawled to where the false boxes of materials lay. It then began to constrict and crush each box in a nearly methodical fashion.

As it did so, i-15 eased herself, with as little movement as possible, into a position where she could see the machine. It was serpentine in form, around ten feet in length and a foot and a half in width. Its head section was triangular, angled much like a trowel, and its segmented body was tightly strung together. She could see on its underside were odd circular indents with what looked to be moving plates and exhaust ducts.

After demolishing every crate, the machine angled its head downward and plunged into the earth. i-15 launched into action, drawing and skewering one of her narrow black blades through the serpentine machine, halting it halfway into the ground.

With it pinned and beginning to recoil, i-15 drew her second sword to her off hand and slashed across the machine. It resisted being cut, metal ringing against metal, and started to twist away with her sword still in it. She grabbed the blade’s handle, twisted as the machine raised its head from the ground, and ran it through a second time.

It squirmed and, with stunning strength, coiled inwards toward and around the android set to destroy it. T473 opened fire on the machine, i-15 grappling against it while keeping hold of her weapons.

The machine, realizing it wasn’t winning with force, revealed another trick. From the circular ports all along its body, which it had now rotated to face i-15, a blast of intense super-heated air shot out.

i-15 relented and jumped away from the machine, her arms burnt. “TAKé, please switch from gatling to laser-type fire.”

“Certainly.” The pod responded and its attack changed from short-burst bullets to a solid line of plasma, burning into the writhing machine that continued to try and fail to burrow back into the earth.

i-15 took her time arming herself with her secondary weapons, much thicker and larger blades, studying the new-type machine lifeform and how it reacted to these stresses. She noted it had no obvious ocular lenses, no vocalization, and moved with increasing desperation as it could not dislodge the blades preventing its escape.

“Burrowing, has small blades between each bodily segment, capable of self propulsion to achieve ramming speeds, not particularly large. Subject’s actual purpose is yet to be understood.” She readied herself and aimed. “Would Research and Development be open to receiving a specimen?”

“Negative, R and D teams have yet to establish an adequate research facility within the Gethsemane camp.” The pod replied.

“Darn. I would’ve liked to not waste this.” She swung down and in one motion cleaved off the machine’s head and part of its torso. It continued to writhe, cut circuits sparking as fuel leaked out. As the drip slowed, so too did the machine, until it laid still, silent, unmoving.

* * *

“Sorry for the wait, I had to recover a couple things, but your trail should be cleared now.” i-15 stood before Allium and a befuddled group of Resistance androids.

“Much appreciated,” said Allium, “But you didn’t really need to go and bring that stuff back.”

i-15 looked to the injured elk she had tethered and held in one hand and the shoddily repaired wagon stuffed with broken crates and metal scrap she’d tugged along with her other. “I didn’t feel right not bringing back what I borrowed.”

Allium smirked. “You know what? You’re alright. Here, have this as thanks for going through that trouble.” The android held out an orange slip of paper that appeared to have braille stamped into it. i-15 accepted and examined it, Allium stating, “That’s local currency. Any shop in Gethsemane should accept it as legal tender. It’s much easier than having to carry scrap metal around for trading.” Allium continued, “It’s not much but it should be enough to get you something for all those burns you got.”

i-15 nodded and pocketed the paper. “Understood. Thank you for having trusted me with this mission.” She saluted the androids and set off to return to the main camp.

“TAKé, please mark the next mission location.”

“Certainly, however, I suggest i-15 perform repairs to ensure optimal performance, perhaps with the aid of c-15.”

“Hm.” She looked over the condition of her arms. She’d already shut off her base pain receptors in the damaged areas, leaving her free to objectively examine it. The fake skin was tacky and lightly bubbled with faint charring towards her gloved hands, where she’d taken the brunt of the attack. However, most of it was superficial. “It’s not that bad, very unlikely to have much impact at all on my physical performance.”

“I concur, however, it is highly recommended that all YorHa maintain peak performance through frequent and thorough self-management and, when assigned, with the aid of their Custodian.”

“Guess I can’t argue with that.” i-15 shrugged. “Please send a request to c-15 and let him know I am on my way back to camp.”

“Certainly.” The pod hummed and then its signal light began to flash. “Incoming transmission from c-15.”

A display with c-15’s familiar face popped up. “How’s it going? Had a successful mission?” i-15 smiled and nodded. His eyes wandered over i-15’s face. c-15’s expression flickered with worry before relaxing. Before i-15 could make the request, he said, “I’ll be near the base of the Needle, meet me there okay?”

“Can do. I’ve got an eta of about five minutes.”

“That’s fine. See you soon.” And with that the display popped back into nothingness, the pod’s signal light retracting back into its frame.

* * *

 

The streets of the camp were still bustling with activity. While i-15 didn’t intend to keep her companion waiting, it was difficult to suppress the urge to eavesdrop on nearby conversations, particularly those of the few seemingly peaceful machines.

While previously documented of being capable of amicable relations with androids, anomalous machine lifeforms were unpredictable and still closely scrutinized wherever they were found. i-15 listened in passing to what seemed to be a heated discussion between two machines, a stubby type and a quadruped type.

“You always ask about sales! You need to try something else. Different.” said the stubby.

“But... Sales are a good topic. A classic ‘ice-breaker’. Bargain-hunting is a good friendly past-time.” The quadroped mimed bashfulness, an impressive feat for something with a simple sphere for a head and no shoulders.

“Nobody likes thinking about how expensive things are. Try talking about... The weather!”

“The weather?” The quadruped perked up. “Alright. I will ask her about the weather then.”

i-15 had little time to consider why machines were trying to figure out small-talk, c-15 had found her and garnered her attention by the familiar touch of his hand on her shoulder.

“There you are.” He smiled.

“Hey! Sorry if I interrupted anything.” i-15 cleared her throat, “I got a little scuffed up so of course my pod insists I get repaired asap, heh.” She grinned, tho less intensely upon seeing c-15’s concerned expression.

“Yeah, I see that. C’mon, I’ll get you patched up over by the medical clinic.” His hand went from her shoulder to her own gloved hand in one smooth motion. “What did it?” he asked, guiding them along the street.

“Some unusual machine type. I can give you a copy of my battle data.”

c-15 shook his head dismissively. “I don’t need it, I can forward it to R and D for you.”

“Have other units reported sightings of machines with burrowing capabilities?” i-15 was trying to carry a conversation while still twisting and turning to take in more of the camp.

“Burrowing? Well, there have always been the drill-types, a modified hovering stubby. Some have been known to link together to form large chains and attack from underground.” c-15 waved at some YorHa, H-models according to i-15’s ongoing internal data reference. “I don’t think there’s any with flame-throwers on record.”

“Hm. This wasn’t as modular. More... snake-like?” She blinked. “I didn’t mention fire.”

c-15 gestured at her arms and, more pointedly, at her face, “You’ve got scorch marks. Here, take a seat.”

The clinic, while housed in one of the more permanent looking buildings of the camp, still had a sense of both incompletion and recent disturbance. Flimsy looking metal shelves were stocked with various items and tools needed for the repair of android bodies. There was power going into the building, simple lightbulbs strung from the ceiling, and a couple terminals hummed on the back wall. There were two rows of cots on the ground floor and a stairway that looked to lead up and right, towards a conjoined structure.

Other androids, YorHa and Resistance, were present, some beds in use with residents sprawled, semi-conscious while other units attended to them.

i-15 hopped up onto one cot and sat side-long, the metal creaking. “Røxy, get me the box labeled LC-2 and a packet of Duragel.” c-15 directed his pod, small and silver, and started to work on peeling away i-15’s gloves.

“It’s really not that bad.” i-15 said, her now bare hands exposed to c-15’s scrutiny.

He turned her palms around in his own, pressing in the center. “Can you feel that?”

i-15 shrugged. “I turned off my pain response for those regions, I can still feel pressure though.”

The silver pod returned, c-15 taking the items and then making an unspoken request for a tool which the pod dispensed. It was small, sharp, similar to a scalpel. “It’s not a good habit to shut off your senses first thing.” He started cutting at the most burnt areas. “You get a pass this time since it means I don’t have to ask you to to do this.”

i-15’s attention wandered. She had TAKé relaying her combat playback through Røxy to the Bunker, where it would be examined and used to further prepare other soldiers. On the bed a row over was another YorHa unit, Battler type, having her busted right arm examined. Across from her were two Resistance members lain flat, colleagues doing their best to solder back together what must be, from the tone of their voices, vital components. She noted how the YorHa H units, while healers themselves, abstained from involving themselves in both the injured Resistance cases and in i-15’s own injuries.

“Have you been busy?” i-15 asked c-15.

He peeled away another layer of damaged synthetic skin from i-15. “Guess you could say that.” He rotated her arm side to side until, seemingly satisfied, switching to her other to do more cutting.

“Been doing requests for the camp?” She cocked her head to the side, watching the other medic androids at work.

“Nah... I actually spend most of my time up in the Bunker these days.” He flinched away from a cut he was starting and sighed, a drop of black fluid rising from the area. “Sorry, it’s been a while since I’ve done this.”

“It’s alright, no real harm done.” i-15 felt none of it anyways.

c-15 dabbed at the area. His handiwork had carefully sliced away all the charred and bubbled areas of skin, revealing i-15’s silver black interior components which made stark contrast with her light skin. He opened the tube of gel and began to apply it to the exposed areas. “I actually haven’t gotten to see much of Gethsemane yet. Command keeps me pretty busy with other stuff.” He’d opened up the box and scooped a portion of the contents out, a waxy substance, which he rolled in his hands for a moment before massaging into i-15’s arms.

T473 dinged, the footage had been received and RnD sent their regards. “So you don’t have much info on the area?” i-15 asked.

“I wouldn’t say that.” c-15 laughed. “I know some stuff. Secondhand stuff but still stuff.” He took a towel and cleaned his hands, taking back up the tool after he finished.

“Maybe if you’re not too busy you can join me on some errands?”

c-15 had just looked up to i-15 looking expectantly at him. He smiled, but shook his head. “I still have to finish my own chores. Sorry...” He started to pick at spots of i-15’s face, small cautious motions.

“It’s okay. Maybe next time.” She closed her eyes.


	5. There’s Not Enough

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> o-units: Operator class, given the task of overseeing and organizing several assigned YorHa units at a time, which involves relay of sent and received data, transmission of mission information, and enabling long-distance communication between squadrons and command.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> // i don’t own nier automata  
> // but i totally own the words that i say

2econd Sequence: Because

 

“TAKé, please switch to missile type fire.”

“Certainly, i-15.”

The android tumbled over the roots of a mighty tree as a bipedal machine lifeform swung an axe in a downward swing. A hail of small missiles struck the machine and its compatriots, leaving them open to i-15’s counterattack.

She hacked the largest of them, a crude blade wielding machine, activating its defense mechanism. Modern YorHa had to change the way they hacked to keep up with the machines’ own adaptations. No longer was it a matter of brute-forcing firewalls and eliminating process cores. To even access them, YorHa had to first maneuver through an encrypted algorithm to enter the machine’s internal processes.

Thankfully, most had predictable patterns, areas having shared “beats” and “rhythms” between closely related machine lifeforms. And, more importantly, if nearby machines shared similar enough algorithms, they would all be susceptible to the attack.

i-15 matched their pattern and destroyed the head machine’s ability to regulate its own internal core, causing it to spontaneously combust alongside the lesser stubbies it traveled with. The burnt metal husks clattered and fell in messy piles across the mossy ground.

“Any others?” i-15 asked.

“Negative. Unit i-15 has eliminated all offending machine lifeforms. Confirmation of condition of stolen materials is now recommended.”

“Will do.” This errand had been a little more labor intensive. Machine lifeforms had been taking crucial supplies from a Resistance outpost, ores and pre-fabricated repair materials, which was endangering resident androids who lacked access to the means to repair themselves otherwise. While the thieving machines could simply be destroyed, doing so without locating the taken goods would have been an unnecessary loss.

So, i-15 had done what she does best. She waited and watched and pursued them to their makeshift den.

The android circled around the structure, it was practically a shed, lacking a door and covered with leaf litter and broken branches in an attempt to disguise it. A pile of materials and boxes was stashed inside. Other smaller sheds circled around it, places where the machines had attempted to return to with their pilfering complete.

“Should I try to transit these materials myself?” She was mentally calculating her load-bearing capacity against what usable containers were present.

“Negative. Unit i-15 has accomplished all mission-critical tasks, location has been marked for the ease of Resistance personnel.” The pod dinged as a little red marker appeared on its provided minimap. “Suggestion. Unit i-15 should return to the requestee to inform them of the errand’s completion and acquire compensation.”

i-15 nodded. “Alright.”

 

* * *

 

 

“All the way out there?!” The Resistance android, a seven foot tall and heavy-set model dressed in layers of camo, gave a weary sigh. “Damn. They really didn’t like this whole bartering concept. Are there any left of the bunch?”

“All hostiles were eliminated.” i-15 responded.

“Hm.” He gazed off for a moment, then, shaking his head, continued, “Guess these things can’t always be helped. Here, take these, for all the trouble you went through.” He offered some colorful, braille stamped, slips of paper as well as a couple capsules i-15 recognized as basic recovery modules. “I’ll send some of my people out to get what’s left.”

“Thank you for having trusted me with this task, sir.” i-15 saluted, turned, and went on her way from the outpost.

Walking along the established foot-path, she started to sift through the various goods she’d been given. After just a day of running errands, she’d accumulated around 2,500 trade credits, 10 small recoveries, 5 medium recoveries, and a handful of miscellaneous materials.

“I don’t really need all of this stuff,” she said, “TAKé, please mark my next destination on the map.”

“Apologies. No more quest destinations remain. Unit i-15 has completed all tasks relevant to their capabilities.”

“Oh.” She pocketed her goods. “Have there been any local distress signals? YorHa or otherwise?”

“Negative. Machine activity within the area is minimal and adequate support has already been provided where needed.”

“Is c-15 available?”

“Negative. Unit c-15 has set their communications status to ‘busy’.”

“Mm... Alright.” Having such vague instructions from the Bunker, while freeing, made i-15 nearly regret doing her jobs so quickly. She’d been active for around 50 hours and had spent all of it doing tasks non-stop.

The forest was immense, though from what intel she had access to, narrow. To one side was an ocean, and on the other an expanse of mountainous plateaus that tapered off into complete desert. The green belt extended to the north and to the south, making it “taller” than it was wide. It was a new and unfamiliar landscape to her, or at least this current iteration of i-15.

And then there was the camp itself. i-15 had access to maps noting general locations of importance and those relevant to her thus far. Ranger outposts, the main clinic and scattered emergency locations, the Needle, and the bunker were obvious in their functions and purpose. The trading depot also made sense to i-15, even if she could not think of any necessities she required that could not be gotten freely from command. There was one thing in the camp that still interested her greatly.

The machine lifeforms, sworn enemies of humanity, adversaries of android-kind, obvious ongoing nuisance to any attempts to redevelop civilization, somehow allowed entry into the area’s main resistance camp. c-15 had briefly mentioned that some peaceful machines were allowed to trade and participate with the camp, but exactly how such arrangements came about and what caused these machines to pursue such behaviors caught i-15’s attention. With her custodian unavailable and no current work to be doing, they would be free to explore this oddity.

She headed to the main trading thoroughfare. The Gethsemane camp, while still visually run-down and incomplete, boasted a large number of active android units. The street was a hodge-podge of pavement and cobblestone, likely, i-15 assumed, a result of attacks and hurried repairs. It was crowded, i-15 could see more YorHa androids taking to rooftops and raised scaffolds to avoid adding to the already congested walkways. She kept to the ground, looking in every direction as she walked, her pod hovering perfectly above her right shoulder. She could see other TSU pods, scarce in number but still present.

And then she saw one. A bipedal machine lifeform, dove mark present on the back of its head, doing its best to walk patiently behind the slower moving crowd ahead of it. i-15 approached, passing by busy androids until she was close enough to nearly touch the machine. She could hear something, between the droning chatter of everyone around them and the machine’s clanging footsteps. She then realized it was the machine speaking quietly, nervously, “Excuse me... Sorry... Excuse me... Could-Could I get by you? Excuse me, sorry...”

Such a shockingly subdued nature to be coming from a machine, i-15 thought. It was amusing, the quiet plight of this lifeform. Where was it going? With its wider body, why did it not simply push itself through the crowd ahead if it was in some hurry? And the way the resistance androids carried on, ignoring the machine’s presence entirely. i-15 wondered what its thoughts were.

It would be simple to find out, i-15 thought. Hacking into a machine lifeform didn’t have to cause direct harm to it, as successful hacking only meant they would have access to such things, as well as others. Her pace slowed, focus concentrating on the machine. She would like to see where it was headed. Where it had come from. What shape its logic processors had taken to reach the conclusions it’d gotten to behave like this.

“Excuse me... Let me just-uh... sorry-Thank you.” It turned onto another smaller road. i-15 followed.

Machines were created to destroy all life on earth so that their creators may colonize it. While this backfired spectacularly and led to the destruction of the machine’s creators themselves, the machines still spread under the influence of this directive, and what remained of them clung to proliferation in the name of ongoing destruction. While it was true that there was no longer a unified network, steering and guiding the machines in organized warfare, machines were still, at their core, weapons.

And yet here was one such weapon, whispering hardly audible apologies and courtesies. “Almost there... Pardon me.”

Only a couple androids were present now. i-15’s steps became deliberate. Their focus was trained on the machine. They barely registered how the structures on this road were barely erected, mostly shells of the planned buildings they were meant to be. i-15 began to step off of the street, into the shell of a building, their eyes not leaving the machine. The android’s posture changed, they crouched, and their focus became sharp as they initiated a hacking sequence-

“Leave it alone,” a voice said from a half-built house.

i-15 snapped out of her sequence, attention swinging to the unknown speaker.

Another android, feminine, was leaning into a doorway covered with a hanging patterned cloth. Their eyes darted away as i-15 looked at them. The android’s hair was just to their shoulders, messy, black with white tips.

i-15 looked back to the machine. It had made its way up to a resistance android who handed it a pair of buckets. It was being sent to do construction work. “Ah...” i-15 still felt the itch to look more when the other android spoke again.

“You must be new. Only new goons like you try hacking the machines around here.” The android looked away again when they got i-15’s attention. They still spoke with a scolding tone even if their posture indicated timidness, “Don’t go causing trouble like that, Tenny has enough to deal with.”

“My bad.” i-15 gave an apologetic gesture. “Old habits like that are kind of hard-wired. I didn’t mean it any harm though.”

“Sure you didn’t...” The android continued to not look at i-15.

“You’re right though,” i-15 offered a smile, “I am really new here. I only just got re-activated a little over two days ago. Would it be alright if I asked you for some pointers? I really can’t help but to try and figure out how stuff works all the time.” She saluted the android, “I’m i-15, and my pod here is TAKé.”

“Greetings.” The pod beeped.

“Nn...” The android shifted a bit uneasily, then replied, “Sure I guess... First of all, people don’t just hack eachother on the street around here.”

“I really am sorry about that,” i-15 replied, “And I promise that as long as I am stationed here I will not try it again.”

“Whatever. Machines that are cleared to be here get that brand and nobody is supposed to mess with ones that have it. They can come and go as long as Tenny says so.”

“What do they come here for?”

“I dunno, stuff?” the android could see i-15 visibly deflate. “I mean, they trade for supplies, or want protection, sometimes they just want to be here and do stuff for us. Lots of reasons. Stuff...”

“Why would machines seek amnesty here?”

“Uh... Cuz they don’t want to die I guess?” the android hurried to add more upon seeing i-15’s gaze wandering back to the machine, “Some of the ones that come out of the factory are defective and they can’t fight so they come here. If they can lift or do anything constructive we give them stuff to do. Happy?”

“Defective...” i-15 nodded, grinning happily, “Thank you so much for your help! Information like this means a lot to me and will help me do my best in serving androids like you and your camp.” i-15 offered a handshake.

The other android turned away back into their house. “Whatever.”

i-15 held the gesture, defeated. T473 shook it in place of the other android. “Thanks, TAKé...”

 

* * *

 

 

“Damn, I feel like I’m running blind now.” i-15 followed, much more peaceably, several other machine lifeforms around the camp. Some were arriving with cargo and exchanging it for other goods. One large biped left the camp carrying a load of resources after bartering a while, making promises of future materials in return for some borrowed ones now. A quadruped made its way around town in a lazy circle before returning to a small gap between two sheds that i-15 could only surmise it’d taken up as a place of residence.

While other resistance androids said much the same as the one from earlier, that some machines simply were defective and sought work at the camp and were given amnesty so long as they did work, i-15 found there was little told of how such arrangements got started, what was done if the agreement was not upheld by the rogue machines, how androids could share space with lifeforms made to destroy them.

The only consistent rational part i-15 felt they had a grip on was the mutual exchange of resources. As proven repeatedly, androids and machines competed heavily for resources and territory. But, wouldn’t that make this arrangement exceedingly dangerous? Did the resistance androids not fear the machines gaining an impressive foothold within the camp itself thanks to being bolstered by the taken resources? i-15 could see a seemingly symbiotic relationship such as this easily becoming, or already being, parasitic.

Machines were adaptive, incredibly quick at changing their warfare tactics to survive and thrive. Could the defective machines actually be intended to subvert the androids’ expectations and breach their defenses by creating a sense of safety?

And even if these machines were defective, if “friendly” machines are allowed to survive wouldn’t they begin to multiply as well? Domination through proliferation? Androids needed to reclaim the earth for humanity, if they allowed the machines to occupy their camps what was the point.

“Incoming message for i-15 from c-15.” The pod hummed.

“Play it, please.”

A small display was projected with c-15 pictured.

i-15 smiled, “Hey c-15, what’s up-“

“A distress signal was detected, you are to go to the marked location and aid unit s-74. Hostiles are present.” His expression was serious.

“Affirmative.” i-15’s demeanor changed in turn.

“Relay future communications to o-46 until further notice.” The channel was closed and display shut.

“TAKé.”

“Location marked.”

“Thank you.”


	6. Things Keep Coming Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> T473 TAKé, an atypically large and very old model of Tactical Support Unit, or pod, assigned to i-15. Provides relevant and useful commentary whenever possible and a soundboard for i-15 as they do investigations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> // i don’t own the intellectual property of nier automata
> 
> // but i totally own the fact that i overthink things

2econd Sequence: Because

 

 

The location marker was a bit over two miles from camp, in an area i-15 had not gotten the chance to familiarize themself with, beyond an outpost they had yet to visit. Satellite imaging, competing with enemy interference and dense foliage, was only able to give her a basic idea of its layout, the android in distress was believed to be near a clearing towards a creek that fed into a larger river.

 

With that in mind, i-15 darted out of the camp, urgency lending her speed in her steps and a bit more carelessness in what avenues she took to reach her destination. Startled Resistance androids could only duck as the nimble YorHa unit leapt over and through where they stood. She had just made it into the thick of the forest when her pod chimed.

 

“Incoming message for i-15 from unit o-46.” the pod’s display activated and a feminine android was present on the screen. A black lace veil went across her mouth, and her brown hair was tied in a prim bun.

 

“Hello, I am unit o-46 and I will be temporarily routing your communications in place of-“ her eyes, looking up from her keyboard, widened upon seeing who she was speaking to, “oh?! It’s you? It’s really you? Ohmygosh-They told me they were sending someone capable A S A P but I never thought it would be you.“

 

i-15 was focused on sprinting across difficult terrain, managing to just offer small acknowledgment to the operator unit. “Oh, uh, is that so?”

 

“Never in my career have I had the chance to relay for an Infiltrator unit! And for you especially-ohmygosh c-15 was ALWAYS handling all of your communications-which he should I mean he is your Custodian-but wow! And you’ve worked with s-74 before so that makes this just perfect!” The android bubbled, barely refraining from, what i-15 caught in her peripheral, bouncing in her seat.

 

“I have?” i-15 faltered a bit, failing to recollect any significant memory of the scanner other than having a positive social relationship, “That isn’t relevant to the situation. Please inform me of s-74’s status and the hostiles reported.”

 

“Oh, yes, of course.” o-46 cleared her throat before continuing in a more professional demeanor, “s-74 was aiding Resistance forces in the relocation of physical informational data of historical significance to a more secure location within the Gethsemane camp.It was mid-transit when machine lifeforms launched a surprise attack. Several Resistance members are reported injured with the hostiles showing no sign of relenting.”

 

“Type?”

 

“Type what for you?”

 

i-15 nearly tripped from that response. Regaining her speed, she replied, “Machine type. What type of hostiles are present.”

 

“Oh! Ohhh, let me pull that up for you.”

 

The location marker was still a mile away and were it not for the provided, even if limited, satellite images i-15 would be much slower to navigate the dense woodland.

 

“Bipedal machine life-forms armed with axes, gunner type stubbies, and an unidentified new-type.” o-46 squinted. “Sorry, I’m having to vet s-74’s notes as he takes them and he tends to be a bit superfluous.”

 

i-15 felt themself loosen up with the news that the o-type was having to juggle multiple channels in an unanticipated fashion. “Are you his regular operator?”

 

“He’s been on my rotation for as long as I’ve been enlisted as an operator unit.” She sounded tired.

 

“Please keep me updated on his status until I arrive at the destination.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Get down!” an android much shorter than those around him shouted, crouched behind a boulder with his gloved hands sheltering his head.

 

“You don’t tell me what to do!” another android retorted, heaving up a gun in an attempt to aim it only to be struck by the brunt side of a machine’s axe.

 

Bright red machine bullet fire spread patterns across the field where the androids were attempting to defend themselves. Resistance androids, many unarmed, were heaving crates out of immediate danger, some shielding them with their bodies.

 

The YorHa android, dismayed at the lack of cooperation, focused on defending his own position. An axe toting machine charged, the android deflected its weapon with his own short-sword, and then motioned to hack it, only to give a frustrated yelp as a Resistance android moved in to clash instead.

 

“Could you move a bit?!” the scanner was trying to aim.

 

In response, the Resistance android stabbed the hull of the machine and then kicked its stumbling form towards the YorHa. He wouldn’t be able to detonate it like he wanted to to cause spread damage to the other machines without risking harm to himself or the other android. Frustrated, he committed to a simple shutdown hack, the machine sparking and then crumpling pitifully to the ground. He could hear metallic footsteps thundering towards him. The other android was already dashing away, leaving the scanner scarce enough time to begin to turn to see his assailant, the anomalous-

 

“Heads up!”

 

Black metal blades swung just over the scanner, ricocheting against the bulky swords carried by the charging machine. He saw blonde hair and a flash of the i-units green eyes, gaze sharp compared to the soft smile she wore.

 

The machine stumbled, its multiple arms weighing it back from the unexpected counter-strike. Its eyes flashed red as it readied itself.

 

“s-74!” i-15 crouched, thick black swords clutched in her hands, “Status update.”

 

The scanner unit beamed, “I’m in the green! No known losses incurred as of yet by machine forces, possible damage to the containers we were ferrying, and questionable performance conducted by the Re-“

 

“Confirming arrival to designated zone, proceeding with termination of all visible hostiles.” i-15 directed spread pod fire to counteract the machines’ own bullet patterns, then match-stepped with the unusual construct ahead of her.

 

It had four arms, each bulky and wielding even bulkier blades which curved like sickles. The arms were attached evenly around the torso, keeping it defended from the front and behind. Supporting its heavy top-weight were three legs which sparked intermittently. Its head, while basically the same overall standard form, was decorated with a pointed crest and appeared dented on one side.

 

She wished that the R&D facility had been established, then set to dissecting its motions. As she moved against one arm, the torso would spin, threatening to cleave her once more. Standing too long near it would cause it to stomp, unleashing a radiating wave of static damage.

 

Seeing an opportunity, s-74 took stance, intending to hack the machine.

 

i-15 slid beneath a horizontal swipe, and rolled to avoid the other three stabs. She stood and struck at the machine’s torso, metal clanging on metal. The scanner was experiencing difficulty, a fact i-15 only became aware of as his yelp of surprise coincided with the machine appearing to fill with more murderous intent.

 

“What is it?” i-15 asked, parrying another swipe and regretting it as the force caused noticeable excessive strain in the very ligaments of her arm. She then swapped to more active footwork.

 

“It has a layered algorithm! Before I can even get to the next set I run out of time and it-“

 

The machine rumbled with fury, getting into a more active stance, advancing on i-15 and s-74 with methodical slicing motions. Resistance androids had continued picking off the lesser machines, with some now looking on at the oddity, unsure of how to step in or unwilling to.

 

i-15 matched the machine’s advancing maneuvers with her own, striding and side-stepping with it. She now ignored the warnings of tension her systems were displaying, doing her best to make herself the priority and drive attention away from the scanner unit. Parry, step, slide. Parry, step, slide. It was falling into a rhythm, and she allowed it to do so, the metal of their weapons ringing and drowning out all other ambient noise. Parry, step, slide. It was becoming predictable, the speed at which it was able to rotate, its preference for stepping first with its back foot, the number of flashes its eyes would give before it spun all four arms upon her.

 

s-74 did not break eye contact, keeping his hand outstretched, trying again and again to match the machine’s algorithm. Even its rage after he failed became predictable, the attacks it chose, and the way it would try to bypass the infiltrator unit to get at the scanner. Then, i-15 broke the rhythm.

 

The machine hesitated, lulled into the established pace, and i-15 pierced and wrenched off one of its arms. It backpedaled, she removed another. As it faltered to swap into an attack, her thin blades were already drawn and piercing the joints of another limb. It stumbled, and tripped, its remaining arm forced to support it and try to crane itself back upright. i-15 went for its head. And pierced it.

 

The red angry eyes dimmed. She exhaled.

 

s-74 shouted, “Its core hasn’t deactivated?!”

 

The head of the machine popped off like a cork, blowing i-15’s arms upward with it, leaving her mid-section exposed. From the socket, a fifth arm erupted, and stabbed into her. She gripped against it and kicked her feet at the arm of the machine as it rose back up. It then tipped forward and against her, trying to drive its knife further into her frame. She dug her feet into the ground and clasped at the metal piercing her torso, using all her force to keep it from going further.

 

The scanner unit shouted out, distressed, and struck at the machine’s joints with his short-sword. It leaned heavier against the infiltrator, whose motors were audibly clicking and grinding from trying to force it back. “On top-get on top of it.” She spoke thru gritted teeth.

 

s-74 scrambled, dodging another static attack, up and onto the machine’s frame. The added weight had i-15 digging her heels harder, the machine knife creaking and sliding ever so slightly in her hands. The scanner looked into the shell of the machine, realizing its fifth arm had little guarding its socket. He stabbed into it, ripping apart its internal components and twisting his blade in pursuit of its core. A bit to the left, beneath those gears, he swore it was there.

 

The machine rattled, rumbled with anger and fury, and then slumped to the side, losing grasp of its weapons and life.

 

s-74 rolled off and down to the ground, hurriedly trying to support i-15 in the removal of the machine knife from her lower torso. Black fluid along with yellowish traces of fuel leaked from the wound, and the scanner looked incredibly fearful.

 

“TAKé, any more hostiles present?”

 

“Negative, unit i-15 has succeeded in their mission.”

 

“Cool.” She sat and began to treat her wound with the help of the large pod.

 

“Are you okay? What are your vitals at?” s-74’s gloved hands were shaking, hovering uncertainly over the knife.

 

“I’m fine. It avoided most of my major components, I’ll just have some slight impairment to my balance until I get this synchro replaced.” Her fingertips were coated with black fluid as they held aloft asmall damaged silver sphere.

 

“Oh. Good.” The scanner looked around. Resistance members were already moving and tending to their own injured and recounting the goods they’d been carrying. s-74 sat in a squat and leaned towards i-15, “Why is it black?”

 

“What do you mean?” She was peaceably suturing her gut with tools provided by her pod.

 

“Your, uh, circulatory fluid. I don’t think I’ve seen it like that before.”

 

“This is its default color. What color are you used to?”

 

He seemed a bit embarrassed as he said, “Well, its dyed. Everyone likes to have red, so they dye it red.”

 

“Really?” i-15 studied her hands. “Is that a trend that caught on?” She sealed the wound with a gel substance after burning away residual fluid.

 

“It’s been going on for ages! You must have been living under a rock not to-“ he took a sharp inhale and then cut himself off. Then, more calmly, “I guess it’s dumb for me to bring it up... An i-unit like you is probably too busy to worry about that sort of thing. I bet you have things to be doing, and I still have to make sure this errand gets finished. There’s just a lot of cargo to keep track of and it’s overwhelming to have them all expect me to have the full inventory but not be included in what they’re even talking about-“

 

“The historical documents you mean?” i-15 looked at a group of androids who were trying to heave a crate back up onto a pallet.

 

“Yeah! Did o-46 tell you?” he smiled.

 

“She mentioned it. What sort of hardware is it on? Seems to be a pretty bulky storage type.”

 

“They’re books.” The scanner now looked very excited to explain things. “Humans used to transcribe data on physical pieces of paper which were then bound together into a single tome referred to as a ‘book’, and the materials in them vary a lot!”

 

“Are they records of pre-invasion earth?” i-15 sat up with interest.

 

“No, well sort of, but even better, while some are meant for practical use, like dictionaries that have helped us gain a better understanding of their lexicon at the time, most of them are pure fabrications!” He was now up on his feet. “Come on, I’ll show you.”

 

i-15 followed suit. “You mean, full of incorrect references right?”

 

“No, they’re completely made up. Humans are so talented, they took the art of lying and manipulation and converted it into a past-time for leisurely activities! They call it ‘fiction’.” s-74 guided i-15 to a crate that had been cracked open in the fray and gingerly scooped up a book that’d been knocked to the ground.

 

He flipped through the pages and then exclaimed, “This one’s illustrated too! Look at that, little fake flowers and everything.”

 

i-15 leaned in to examine it. Most of the printed text was now illegible towards the edges, but enough could be deciphered from the middle to understand that it was talking about a young girl making gifts for different animals, and the trouble of figuring out what gift each would like most. “What is this meant to reference?”

 

“Absolutely nothing. They just made them for fun and would share them like this.” He then spread his arms wide, gesturing at all the crates. “And there are so many! And tons more like this that we’re still recovering from the structure upstream.”

 

“Ah, I get it. Resistance is retaining this information for the humans to recover when they can. I’d imagine having the products of their ancestors would be significant for them.” She tilted her head, examining the cover of the book. It was tattered, frayed, and had odd splotches of color. Remains where other illustrations had once been. “Very cool.”

 

“Isn’t it?” s-74 laughed, “I could stand here and read these all day.”

 

i-15’s pod chirped, “Incoming message for s-74 from o-46.”

 

“Aw shit.” s-74 quickly gave the book back to a Resistance member. “Hello Operator!”

 

“It says on my chart here, s-74, that you have been idle for several minutes while still assigned to a mission. Care to update me on your progress?”

 

“Unit i-15 needed time to prepare manual repairs ma’am and Resistance members are currently reassessing the situation. The cargo got spread all around and some of its been damaged so its going to take them some time to re-pack it and-“

 

“And what are you doing right now to further this progress?” o-46’s tone was level, yet accusatory.

 

“Uh, lending support right after finishing this communication with you, ma’am.” s-74 spluttered.

 

“Noted. And thank you, i-15.” the communication channel closed and T473’s display blipped away.

 

s-74 sighed and i-15 turned to him positively beaming, saying peppily, “Ooh, someone’s in trouble!~”

 

The scanner spluttered a bit more, and then started to laugh.


	7. It’s Inherent To Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> e-units: Executioner class, utilized and designed for the manual resetting of their fellow YorHa soldiers and runaways. While more often they are sent on missions alongside groups as a deterrent, they are as capable as Battler class androids in general combat and still valuable in mission success.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> // it’s a steady thing, making this  
> // got a lot of building to do  
> // much like the original nier automata, which i do not own!!  
> // all that is mine is the penning of these words within

2econd Sequence: Because

 

 

The trek back to the Gethsemane camp was a long and gradual one. The i-unit had reassured s-74, as well as her pod, that she was fine to walk, and, with no other duties to fulfill at the time, could afford to watch over the group. Maneuvering the pallets of crates was no simple task. While androids had considerable weight thresholds compared to their size, the far older Resistance androids had the overbearing risk of exhausting their energy when moving large objects far quicker than a YorHa android would. The wheels could only help so much, even with careful steering towards the most open routes, brute force was still required to lift the cargo up and over foliage.

Each android was equipped with a miniature reactor, which supplied all the energy they needed to function, and while Resistance had proven themselves of being able to run almost indefinitely, their model of reactor was not intended for prolonged periods of high-energy drain. With many being decades old, their parts in varying states of wear and viability, the Resistance androids had learned their limits. So, they would travel a ways over the thick undergrowth, the androids rotating shifts to carry the cargo, before all present Resistance androids would need to stop and rest, and then repeat.

i-15 had, at the insistence of both s-74 and o-46 over her communication line, been assigned to the back of the procession.

“You just took a giant knife to your guts!“ s-74 said.

“With a broken synchro, I don’t want to risk you possibly losing balance while carrying these materials.” o-46 then added, “This is not a task assigned to you to begin with.”

“And your custodian is already gonna be sooo pissed with me about this, I can feel it.” The scanner grimaced, and o-46 nodded from his display.

i-15 snorted, “What? Why’d he be upset with you, I’m the one who misjudged the enemy, and I’m satisfied with how you both handled the situation.”

“I can imagine it now,” the scanner looked to i-15, then raised his hands to form a frame that centered on her face. “Oh, i-15 it’s so good to see you again~,” he had modulated his voice to an impressive degree, imitating c-15’s demeanor and heavily exaggerating it, “I’m soooo glad, but! What’s this?!” s-74 shifted his hand-frame’s focus to i-15’s patched stomach. “GASP!? Who messed up and didn’t take down that impossibly difficult enemy before you could arrive?” s-74 raised a fist to the sky, “Ohhh those lazy scanners! I will have his head!”

“Just because he’s my custodian doesn’t mean he’ll be so hostile to you.” i-15 wore a pleasant smile.

“You say that but they usually are. I catch c-87 talking shit all the time.” The scanner looked skyward, his operator tsk-ing in his ear.

“Really? About you?” i-15 asked.

“Huh? No, he plays quiet and cool when I’m around but the minute I leave it’s ‘you all should’ve done this’ or ‘I will have you reprimanded for that’.” the scanner shook his head, smiling as he reminisced.

“c-15 trusts my decisions, if I don’t have an issue with you, I don’t think he will either.”

“You say that, but he’s always hanging out with the e-units.” s-74 emphasized ‘e-units’ with distaste.

i-15’s expression sharpened, “They’re just doing their jobs, and distrusting them for that will harm YorHa as a whole.”

The scanner swallowed, guiltily, and nodded. i-15 went and took an open spot in the carry rotation, her pod humming.

* * *

 

 

A large group of androids were ready and waiting to receive the cargo at the camp, i-15 was surprised to see a decent gathering of YorHa also waiting to sift through the containers. According to i-15’s readout, mostly mechanic units and a couple more scanners. c-15 was not there.

She walked deeper into the heart of the camp, towards the clinic. The healer units who had been present before were no longer there, same for the injured battler units; the unconscious Resistance androids were still where they’d been, now accompanied by a fresh batch of damaged allies. i-15 perused the metal shelves. “TAKé, can you see a replacement synchro that matches my own?”

“Apologies, the camp does not currently have any registered stock that matches unit i-15’s model requirements.” The pod replied.

“Please file a request with command.”

“Certainly. However, a request for the needed part among others has already been put on record. Shall I repeat the request?” T473’s signal light blipped.

c-15 must have already seen her damage readout, “Never mind then, what’s the eta on the parts’ arrival?”

“Apologies, insufficient data, as the parts are currently being manufactured to order.” The pod twirled ahead of i-15 to face her. “Suggestion, unit i-15 should take this time to power down until the replacement parts arrive.”

“Mm.” She looked at the many already full cots of the clinic. She took a small box of universal wiring from the shelf and left the building. The pod followed.

There must be some shortage for there to be no available backlog of parts. She pondered this while picking at and one-handedly braiding select wires from the box.

“Query, does unit i-15 not find the camp clinic suitable?” T473 asked.

“I’m still capable of ambulation and can do some basic repairs of my lesser components until the more major parts are available. There are heavily damaged androids who could better utilize the space.” i-15 replied.

“Understood.” The pod returned to its regular position above i-15’s right shoulder.

She walked through the crowds, leaning every so often on the stalls and half-built buildings. YorHa who recognized her would wave hello, she would wave back, continuing on through less and less populated roads. She kept going until finding a small, narrow, path. A pile of brick was set in a mound beside a wall whose foundation had been partially set. She clambered up it then shimmied onto a bit of scaffolding, scooting herself to one side and setting the box of wiring down.

Leaning against the scaffold, i-15 twirled several more pieces of wire to their liking, then pulled up the hem of her shirt. The wound was still very visible, her pseudo skin stained where their internal fluids had leaked. She pressed her hand to her side, digging the fingers in until feeling a seam, then peeled.

It took a degree of finesse that came pre-installed for i-15, to manipulate their own internal components and perform repairs like this. It would not be the cleanest installation, but it would restore more of their components to a “green” status. There was a fluid line cut that she lacked the means of adequately re-aligning, so she left it disabled. It meant a portion of her circulation wouldn’t be able to keep up with strenuous activity. The frayed sensory wiring however was an easier fix, she didn’t need it to be perfect but all the touch inputs she had available were needed to counteract the broken gyro synchro.

T473 observed silently, slowly rotating and looking elsewhere. i-15 continued to tinker. Her pod’s signal light pulsed twice, and she received a message from it.

 

  * TSU-[T473] unit i-15 is currently being watched by a member of Resistance, would you like for me to discourage them?



 

i-15 shook her head, finished what she was doing, and sat up, asking, “Can I help you?”

An android flinched back to their hiding spot, then slowly peered out again. They were on a neighboring building’s roof. “I was uh... I think I should be asking you that?”

“I’m just doing what repairs I can right now, thank you.” i-15 smiled, recognizing the android. They were the skittish one who had told them off earlier for attempting to hack a machine.

The android looked around, scrunched their face a little, and then looked back at the YorHa, confused. “Is the clinic full?”

“Negative.” The pod responded, “The camp currently lacks the part unit i-15 requires to complete their repairs.”

“What’s it look like?” The android approached warily, craning their head to try and get a better look at i-15 where she sat.

i-15 presented her broken synchro, holding it to where the android could see. They looked hopeful for a moment, then scrunched their face again. “That’s a weird one.” they said.

“YorHa often use unique parts that are not interchangeable with regular androids.” i-15 pocketed the sphere.

“I mean, I have a couple spares that look sort of like it if that might work?” They offered.

“Thank you, but I would need to clear the use of unregistered components with command before installation, and I could risk unstable performance from the use of irregular parts.” i-15 resealed their faux skin. “That was very kind of you... Uhm.” i-15 looked to her pod, who hummed in response.

“There is currently no registered profile available for this individual android. Suggestion, register a unique profile now.” T473 aimed itself at the android who looked displeased.

“Is that really necessary?” The android asked.

i-15 grinned. “Yes, please! Just a given name, so I can at least know who to thank for the kindness.”

The Resistance android tsk-ed and mumbled something in a whisper.

“Error,” the pod blipped, “Could not parse given input. Please try again.”

Now with more annoyance, the android replied, “Sara.”

T473 made a positive beep, “Thank you for your compliance.”

“Whatever.” They turned, “Just wanted to see what the hell you were getting into.” Sara left down a staircase and out of i-15’s sight.

 

* * *

 

 

The sky grew overcast, a low rumble in the distance, and it began to rain. A steady drizzle, coating the forest with fresh, yet somewhat acidic, water. Acid rains were more intense out on the plateaus, and infrequent. Funny, she thought, that the plateaus’ forecast was first on her weather shortcuts. The more predictable nature of the weather in the Belt is part of what made it so promising. i-15 waved away the pop-up display detailing the forecast.

Thousands of years ago, the climate of the entire earth changed dramatically. The alien menace, inscrutable, and now forever unknowable with their extinction, had left their mark. A mass collapse of ecosystems across the globe. The soil became alkaline, waters acidic, the earth’s rotation was irreparably changed, an extinction event of extreme proportions. Perhaps, i-15 mused, it was an attempt at terraforming.

The YorHa was laying on their gut on a roof, an awning above sheltering most of them, rain trailing down their dangling arm, their head resting on the other. She watched other androids do similar, mostly other YorHa with Resistance androids retreating into their residences. i-15 watched a healer type jog into a building, door shutting behind her. Then a quadroped machine on the same street, appearing to have been watching them, took slow steady steps away and up the road, getting drenched by the rain.

i-15 had nothing else to do for the moment. She closed her eyes, the hum of her pod floating idly by melding into the sounds of rain. Like the water down her arm, it was a trickling sensation in her core. A feeling like residual static, i-15 felt c-15 approaching well before she heard him. An effect of the handshake and his role as her Custodian. She didn’t stir, instead focusing on the ghosts in her software of having felt this before. A familiarity for something she had limited memory of, and no experience of at all in this iteration.

i-15 heard c-15 jump up onto a nearby building, step, jump and pod-launch himself, then land on a railing just below her. Her dangling hand was met with the grasp of his own, pulling gently.

i-15 opened their eyes to see c-15’s own looking back from beneath her. He was carrying a large satchel, his small silver pod floating above his left shoulder.

“I’m sorry, i-15,” He said, “I’m glad to see you.”

 


End file.
